Stronger
by katrin87
Summary: Steph makes some decisions about her life. One of them is she needs some training, so she asks Ranger for help. Rated M for smut and possible violence. Sensible topic in chapter 26! Read the warning!
1. Prologue

_This is my first fanfic, so I appreciate any kind of review. Just be honest and tell me if I should continue. English isn't my first language. Tell me if my mistakes are too bad. Thanks for reading._

**Stronger**

**Prologue**

After I found out that Dickie was still under the living I retreated into myself, wouldn't talk to anyone, wouldn't go out. I didn't know who to trust anymore. I didn't trust Morelli, that's for sure. He thinks of me as his girlfriend but lets me believe I'm still a murder suspect, while he is guarding the murdered. But could I trust Ranger? Sure, I trust him with my life, but could I trust him with the rest of myself?

The week when I wouldn't go out, I thought about all these things, but also about what I wanted for myself. Despite my mother's constantly nagging I didn't want to give up bounty hunting. I needed the chase, the adrenaline and the high after a successful capture. My mother and Morelli couldn't understand this. But this is my life. I need to be happy, not anybody else.

Ella came by every other day to bring groceries and clean. And she looked after Rex. I didn't even have the energy to fed him. I'm a bad hamster mom. She didn't say anything. She would just smile and get to work around me. And for this I was grateful. She seemed to know that I needed to think about what I wanted.

After 8 days I knew what I wanted. I knew that I needed training to get better in what I do. I didn't want to need backup all the time. I wanted to be able to help myself, to keep myself safe. But I also knew that I had to go out of the country to achieve this goal. I knew that if I stayed in Trenton the constantly nagging of my mother and Morelli, I wouldn't allow me to concentrate solely on my training and getting better. But this was easy. I knew Ranger would know a way to help me.

The other great problem were the men in my life. But I knew now that I couldn't trust Morelli enough anymore to be in a relationship with him. After a closer look at the relationship we had, I realized that we basically are friends with benefits. But I wanted it all, but I also knew Morelli wasn't the guy to give me this. I didn't need marriage and kids right away, but when I want it, I want it with somebody who I love and trust. Completely. So far, Ranger was after my Dad the only guy in my life who had achieved this.

Coming to these conclusions I knew I had to talk first to Morelli and then to Ranger. Afterwards I would have to go to my parents to let them know that I'm okay.


	2. Chapter 1

_Please read and review. Let me knowwhat you think._

**Chapter 1**

So here I was, Stephanie Plum, Bombshell, whatever you want to call me, on my way to my on- off, soon to be ex- boyfriend. I was kind of worried about his reaction but I knew I had to do this for myself. I couldn't be happy with the life he wanted me to live. I would slowly go down and break.

When I pulled up to his house I saw his truck standing in the driveway. He was home, so far so good. I walked up to the door, but before I could knock he already had the door open and tried to pull me into a kiss. No 'Hi, how are you? Are you okay?' Nice. Exactly what I had expected. Not that it had ever been different.

"Stop it!" Oops louder than I realized. Now he was angry. I could already see it in his eyes.

"What is wrong with you? I haven't seen you for over a week. I want to kiss my girlfriend hello! The cops are already talking about us. Do you have any idea what this constant on- off does for my career?"

"About this. I think we need to talk." I think he saw something in my eyes or in my posture, because he just dragged me into the kitchen. "Joe, I think we should be honest with ourselves. Our so called relationship isn't working. We come to each other when we need sex, but there isn't much else to our relationship. You tell me that the boys miss me and then we have a few nights of sex, before we fight again. We don't even make love, Joe. It's just sex. We don't go out together. You consider Pino's take out and a Rangers game a date. When was the last time we went out in public, went to the movie theater or to a fancy restaurant? And I don't want to be second in a relationship. Your work goes over everything. I can't live like you want me to. I need to be free." By now he was angry, his lips were a thin line and his jaw clenched tight and I could see the vein on his neck pulsing. Oh boy.

"This is about Ranger, isn't it? What has he offered you now? A new job, a car? Hell. He uses you, don't you see it?" Joe was almost screaming.

"Stop it Joe!" By now I had gone back to my Italian ancestors and was using a lot of their gestures, but Joe wasn't better. "I haven't seen him since last Thursday, the last time I saw you too. Since then I have been in my apartment. Alone!" I didn't think telling him about Ella would do him any good, so I didn't mention her. "I used this time to think about me and us. About what I want and what I need in my life. Joe I think we should break up for good. We are no good for each other. We haven't seen each other for a week and all we are doing now is arguing. We bring each other down. We should end this!"

"You want to end us? After 3 years you walk in and want to tell me there is no more us? Why?"

"See, there is no 'us'. I'm not sure there has ever been, Joe. And then this thing with Dickie was the last straw. You let me believe I was still a suspect under murder investigations. You didn't tell me that I didn't have to worry, that I was clear. You let me believe that some guys from the PD could show up at any given time to haul me in for questioning or could even arrest me. This isn't a good base for a loving and trusting relationship. We don't trust each other. And after this stunt I'm not sure if I can ever trust you again." My voice was steadily raising with the anger that surged through me.

"But,..."

"Please let me finish. I can't go on like this, wondering if the police or Ranger and his Merry Men will get to me fast enough to safe me, but I want to keep my job. So I will get training. But I can't be what you want me to be. I can't be a stay- at- home mom. I would go nuts. I can't be the perfect Burg wife. Joe this isn't me, but this is what you want. We are too different to make it work. I can't be this person. I was never the right one for this position. I hope that you find a nice burg girl for you, but it won't be me."

I had seen Joe gradually calm down. I think he realized that I was right. We were comfortable in our relationship. That's why we needed so long to admit it, but we couldn't give what the other needed.

"Cupcake, I think you are right. It's hard to admit, but it is true. But tell me, is this because of Ranger?"

"NO. I thought about this whole love triangle, but this isn't the main reason. I think my main reason was the trust issue. We don't trust each other. You withhold information from me, but usually this makes it more dangerous for me. I don't trust you at the moment." To tell him or tell him not? Do I tell him that I always wondered about him and Terry? "And I never knew for sure what was between you and Terry. In a healthy relationship you shouldn't need to wonder about stuff like this. And I know for sure that you always wondered about me and Ranger. We shouldn't do this to each other, but more importantly to ourselves."

"You are right Cupcake. I can still call you Cupcake, can't I?" After my nod he went on. "We hurt each other and bring each other down. It is right to end this, but I hope we can stay friends."

Damn, these puppy eyes. Never knew Morelli could do them, but he has betrayed my trust. "I don't know Joe. I hope that in the end we can be friends again, but at the moment I need some distance. I hope you can understand this. But now I need to go. Bye."

With this I went out the way I came, never looking back. I drove away, but soon realized that I was too shaken to drive safely, so I pulled over at the next 7-11 to get me a sugar fix to calm my nerves. I knew that I would need it. I was surprised that Morelli had let me go this easily. But what did this say about our relationship? Was he cheating on me? I didn't know, and when I'm honest with myself I didn't want to know. Morelli was the past. Maybe we could be friends in the future, but as a couple we were a failure. I was also surprised that I didn't hurt about the fact, that I would never be with Morelli again. Sure, I was sad, but not because we weren't a couple anymore, I was hurt because he didn't trust me and had so endangered me different times. I was actually pretty relieved. I could start new. I could start better. With this thought I drove to the Haywood offices, hoping that Ranger was there.

_Merry Christmas everyone._


	3. Chapter 2

_I don't own any of them, but the trainers are all mine._

_The conversation with Ranger and the Merry Men. Slight smut ahead, you have been warned._

**Chapter 2**

So here I was sitting in my car in the underground garage at the Haywood offices. I was pretty sure that Ranger wasn't here. My neck wasn't tingling and his truck wasn't parked in its usual parking space. Now I was contemplating whether I should visit the boys in the control room while waiting for Ranger to return or go home and come again later. But I knew I wouldn't have the courage to come again. But I also didn't want to face the Merry Men. They always seem to know when something isn't right. But before I could make a decision, Binkie had knocked on the window and opened the door.

"Hey Bomber, you coming up?"

"Uh, I wanted to talk to Ranger. Is he in?" Well, maybe his truck is at Al's. One never knows with Batman.

"Nope, he is out collecting a skip. Big one. Why don't you come up? We haven't seen you for a while. Ram and Woody are on monitor duty, but Cal, Bobby and Lester are also here. Tank is with Ranger."

"When, do you think, will they be back?"

"Don't know. Come on Bomber, get out of your car. There are some cookies waiting. Ella managed to smuggle them into the break room. Lester and Bobby found them before I came down to get you."

"Alright, you know I have no will power when it comes to Ella's cooking."

So I went up with him. These guys know how to get me out of my car. Wonder how long I have been sitting there. Normally they give me some time to collect my thoughts. "Hey Binkie?"

"Yeah?"

"How long have I been sitting in my car?"

"Uh, don't know for sure. Something like twenty minutes I think. Why?"

"Just wondering."

By now we had arrived at the break room where Bobby and Lester sat munching on cookies. Binkie was the first to respond.

"Hey, I hope you left me some."

"Nope, sorry Binkie, Lester ate a lot of cookies. The rest is for Bomber. Hey Bomber, you look sad. What's shaking?"

So I sat down, munching on cookies and collecting my thoughts. How do you tell your best friends that you want to leave the country for half a year, or maybe longer. Maybe never want to come back? They sensed that I needed this time, so they just sat there, watching my inner musings.

"Well, you guys know that I was a murder suspect. Morelli had The Dick in protective custody and didn't tell me. But this is just a small bit. I realized this last week that Morelli and I aren't good for each other. So I drove over to him and broke it up for good."

"About damn time, Bombshell." This from Lester.

"Yeah, but I realized some other things as well. I need training, but I can't get good when I'm in Trenton. My mom is constantly nagging me about working at the button factory or at Macy's as a make- up girl. I can't stand it anymore. I need to get out of the Burg. I need some distance from it all. Everybody is looking down at me. Nearly nobody thinks I can do this."

"Good for you, Babe."

I hadn't realized that Ranger had entered the room and from the looks of it, the guys hadn't realized it either.

"Yeah, so I came here. I know you would train me, but I need to get out. I need some time to regroup, to think about what I want for myself. I hoped you guys would know somebody out of the country who could train me."

"Bomber, I can understand why you want to leave, but what is it with your mother? Every time you talk about her you look so unsure of yourself." Hmm, wonder when Tank came in, probably together with Ranger.

"Tank, my mother has seen me as a failure since the day I hopped of the garage roof because I wanted to fly. She wants me to be a perfect stay- at- home mom and wife, married to some guy who is traditionally Burg with at least two kids, or better yet, even more. But that's not me. I get the creeps thinking about kids. I don't know if I ever want them, but I know for sure that I don't want them now or in my near future. And you all know what my cooking is like. I don't want to eat my own cooking, because I'm afraid I will get food poisoning. Not the best idea to serve this to your hubby who works hard, so you don't need to work. She doesn't see that I'm not Val, but that's what she wants me to be. And she tells me this every time we meet. She even told me that it was my fault that Dickie was cheating on me, because I couldn't keep him satisfied." By now I was flat out crying. It just hurt too damn much.

"Okay, I think I get the picture." Lester who sat beside me enveloped me in a hug. "So Bomber, how do you want to play this. I believe your parents don't know about your plans yet?"

Hiccuping I admitted. "No, and I won't tell my Mom, I will tell my Dad. But that's it. I have no plan. I know I need training and hoped you guys knew somebody. But please out of the country and without a phone number for my mom. Once she finds out there will be hell to pay." With that I was batting my eyelashes at them.

Now it was Ranger's turn, but he didn't look too happy about my plans. "Well, I could ask TK. He is somewhere near Corrales in Mexico. He should be able to train you. Or has anybody a better idea?"

"Yeah, either him or Jac, he is somewhere in Canada at the moment. That's what I heard last. You never know with him." Bobby had to add his opinion.

But I wasn't sure where to go. But while I was contemplating the choices, the guys had already started to discuss the pro and con's of both. I didn't get much of what they were saying, because I was too busy with my own thoughts. I then realized it was silent and everybody was looking at me.

"Huh?"

"Babe, you weren't listening were you?" Asked Ranger grinning.

"Nope, sorry."

"Too busy with the war in your own head?"

"Yeah. Smart ass. So what is your advise?" Well, I would follow their lead. I didn't know either of these guys.

"Well, we think TK would be the better choice. He has his own training facilities, often used from the military. Preparation for missions. Stuff like this."

"Okay, when can I go?"

"Tank call him. I don't know for sure, but he should have time. Don't worry, we will just ask him. You won't be a burden." Damn, this man knows me too good. Tank stood and left the room.

"Not that I've not the same opinion about training and Morelli, but what brought this on?"

"Well,.."

The guys sensed that I was uncomfortable with them being there, so they silently stood and left me alone with Ranger, who promptly pulled me onto his lap.

"Well, you know that Joe didn't tell me that Dickie is alive, so I couldn't trust him. And I realized, that I don't love him the way I should to marry him, to live with him forever. I realized that I don't love him, the way I love you. So I went over to break it up. For good this time. I' m not even sure if I ever want him to be my friend again. He has just to often mistrusted me. And I'm not sure what is going on with him and Terry."

Ranger was just staring at me, but I had to finish this. I couldn't leave, with him not knowing how I feel. So I continued.

"The training thing has been coming for a while. I'm tired of being the girl who provides the entertainment for the whole PD and whatever force is included. Everyone is betting on me, even your guys. I have no problem with the Merry Men betting on me. They always come to my rescue, but the PD mostly uses it to laugh about me. I want to be taken seriously, but that is only possible, when I'm better, when I don't have the funniest mishaps. I know that you would help me, and I appreciate this, but I need the distance. I need to go somewhere were my mom can't find me. But I'm not ready to stand up against her. And I appreciate the help you provide, but I need to be able to rescue myself. I can't and I shouldn't have to relay on somebody else to safe my life on such a frequent basis. You have done this too many times to count for me, but it is time to get serious about my job, or it will get me killed sooner or later."

Tank chose this moment to reenter the room. "Boss, Bombshell, TK is waiting for you. Flight is booked. Goes in four hours from the airport in New York. Direct flight, takes ten hours. Don't ask me how he did this. They will pick you up at the airport. Told me to tell you, you only need to bring your toiletries and stuff for three or four days, small duffel. He and his partners will provide the rest. And a list of the weapons you use and are comfortable with. Boss, he told me to ask you to escort Bomber down to Mexico. He wants to catch up with you or something. Jac is staying with him at the moment, but they don't know when he will move on again. This guy is just restless, should go on a mission or something. Chris, Toby and Tim are also there, training for some mission. He didn't tell me how long they will keep her."

"Thanks. I will go with her." Ranger nodded towards Tank and he left the room. "Let's go pack your stuff. Who do you want to tell and what about Rex?"

"I only want to tell my Dad, Mary Lou and your guys. Do you think Ella would look after Rex? Oh, and I want to thank her for her help the last week. Could you tell Vinnie that I quit? When I go there to tell him, Connie and Lula will get out of me what is going on. But I don't want it all over the Burg in less then five minutes."

"Alright. Here is how we do this. We will go to your apartment to collect your stuff and Rex. Then we will drive by your parents'. Your mother should be shopping at the moment so we can avoid her. Then we stop at Mary Lou's and come back here, so I can get my stuff and you can talk to Ella and say goodbye to the Merry Men, but I suspect everyone who is free, will want to say goodbye at the airport. Okay?"  
Batman can speak more then one word sentences? Will wonders never cease?

"Yeah, let's go. Oh, and I need to end the lease of my apartment."

The drive to my apartment was silent as usual. Ranger was in his zone and I was questioning my sanity. Here I was on my way to say goodbye, to leave Trenton for who knows how long. I had never been out of the country, so this was a first for me. But Ranger interrupted my mental ramblings, while resting his hand on my thigh, rubbing comforting circles with his thumb.

"Babe, you know I love you, right?" Where did this come from?

"In your own way?" I asked, not sure where he was going with this.

"Yeah, more like, in every way I can love you."

"What?" Did he just say what I think he said?

"Yeah, you understood me right. I told you I love you before. Why are you so surprised?"

"Because you keep sending me these mixed signals. One day you are all touchy feely, the next day you are gone to god knows where for who knows how long without ever mentioning that you have to go. It's kind of confusing."

By now he had pulled into the parking lot at my apartment complex and had pulled me into his lab, embracing me tightly.

"But I always tried to show you how I feel. I am not good with words, you know that, so I tried to show you. All the cars, the job when you needed one, a place to stay. Why didn't you get that I love you, that I just waited for you to make a decision, to choose between me and Morelli?"

"Well, could be the lines you keep feeding me. I remember being told that you don't do relationships. Hell, you even send me to Morelli. I always thought you just wanted me for a good fuck, no strings attached." By now I was positively angry. I tried to get off of his lap, but he wouldn't let me.

"So Babe, when I asked you, you would try a relationship with me? Like you being my girlfriend exclusively?"

"Uh, Ranger what brought this on? The fact that I leave for time unknown?"

"Yeah, kind of. I have been thinking of this for a while now. But when you told us, you wanted to leave to get training, something snapped. I knew I had to tell you. I was afraid you would reject me, so I didn't tell you sooner. But what's your answer?" He looked kind of unsure.

"You have to ask? This is what I have been waiting for since we spent this one night together."

He didn't give me a chance to continue, he just kissed me hard and demanding. With tongue. Lots of tongue. Then he whispered in my ear, his voice deep and hoarse, while his hands started kneading my breasts.

"I want to take you. Right here in the car. Make you come on my fingers until your voice is hoarse, then take you up to your apartment and take you against the door, making you scream my name when you go over the edge."

I couldn't hold in the moans anymore. His breath against my ear had sparks shouting southwards and I could feel myself getting wet as I was rubbing myself against him. My hands started roaming his body, while he was kissing me hard, passionate, but before I could say or do anything he had my jeans unzipped and plunged two fingers into me, stroking my g-spot, his thumb circling above my clit. My forehead fell on his shoulder as he thrust his fingers into me.

"Babe are you this wet, just for me?"

I bucked against him, moaning uncontrollably, riding his fingers. I wasn't able to form a coherent sentence.

"That's it Babe, come for me."

With that I fell over the edge, screaming his name in ecstasy, bucking wildly against his finger. My breathing was ragged, uneven. It took me some time to even out my breathing, but when I was able to breath again he zipped my pants up and told me we had to hurry or we would miss our flight. Damn, I had already forgotten what I was about to do. But I couldn't believe what we had just done. We were making out in the car like teenagers. But all I could think about was how to get several more Ranger induced orgasms. Ranger must have followed my train of thought, because I could feel him chuckle against me.

"Come on Babe, you need to pack." So we went up to my apartment, silently packing my stuff. I packed my personal stuff, Ranger went to grab Rex in his home and his supplies. I was kind of sad to let my apartment behind, when a thought struck me.

"Uh, Ranger?"

"Yeah?"

"What's going to happen with all my stuff. I don't have enough money to rent this apartment for however long I will be gone."

"No problem Babe. I already arranged for the guys to clear your apartment tomorrow. We have storage rooms at RangeMan where we can store your stuff. What do you want to be done with your furniture? I'm not sure if you will need to keep it, because I plan on hiring you full time when you come back. If you want to. And as my employee you could live at a fourth floor apartment, with comes fully equipped, or you could always live with me."

"You what? You want to hire me? Little me, the laughingstock of Trenton?"

"Babe, you have great instincts, you always get your skip. Trust yourself, don't underestimate yourself all the time. Be proud of yourself, just like I'm proud of you. And yes, I plan on hiring you. The guys have been nagging me quite some time now. We all enjoy working with you. You always bounce back, no matter what happens and you didn't go trough mental training in the Army, where all my guys and I went trough. You have nightmares for some days or a week, leave the lights on for a few nights, but then you are back to old Steph. You don't waste time on mulling over what happened. You go on. You learn from your experience, but you don't allow yourself to get depressive. All the guys admire you for this. I admire you for this. Babe, when you went trough my training, you would be better than me. You never suffered from PTSD and you have seen a lot of shit up close. And despite all this you are still doing your job and you are good at it."

I just stood there staring at him. Did he just say I could be better than him, better than Ranger, the man of mystery who every low life scum of Trenton fears, the man who might be responsible for the freedom of the world?

He must have sensed that I didn't believe him, because he continued. "Steph, look at me. I know that this training is gonna be hard on you. You will have to go running, they will make you exercise in every possible way, but it will be worth it. When you come back you will be stronger, physically and mentally. They will put you through Rangers and Seals training. This will be hard, but I know you can do this. All the Merry Men know you can do this. They know how tenacious you can be. We believe in you. It doesn't matter what the Burg says, it's important that you are happy with your life."

During his speech he had pulled me into a hug. He seems to know me better than I know myself sometimes. "Thanks, I needed to hear this. I'm kind of freaked at the moment."

"And that's perfectly normal and understandable. You are about to make some major changes in your life and you have no way of knowing how it will all turn out. But remember, I will be there to back up you up every step of the way. You won't have to do this alone. We will all support you. Tank cleared that you can write and receive e-mails. And I will stay with you the first weeks. I'm proud of you that you take this step. But now let's get going."

"I would like you to bring my stuff to storage at RangeMan and end the lease of the apartment."

Ranger just told me not to worry, he would deal with it.

_Please let me now what you think, especially about the smut as it is my first attempt. Please review._


	4. Chapter 3

_Thanks to all the reviewers I haven't thanked personally. I appreciate your reviews just as much._

_I don't own them, I don't make money._

**Chapter 3**

We were on our way to my parents' house. I just hoped my mother wasn't there, because this could get really ugly really quickly, and I didn't want Ranger to have to witness my mother's ranting about my job. It's bad enough as it is. On the drive over I was contemplating how, and more important what to tell. If my dad was the only one home, it would be pretty easy, he has always supported me and would understand why I had to do this. But with my mom there? I didn't even want to go there. I was slowly working myself into a full blown panic attack when Ranger interrupted my thoughts.

"Babe, calm down. It won't be that bad." He tried to reassure me by grabbing my hand and running circles with his thumb over my knuckles, but it was working.

"You have no idea. You don't know my mom. She will kill me when she finds out. I will never get pineapple upside down cake again. She will disown me." I was whining by now. It was pathetic but I couldn't stop it. I just couldn't go without cake.

"You don't have to tell your mom what your plans are. Just tell her you will be out of town for a while and don't know when you will be back yet. You can write your Dad. I will offer him to come to RangeMan to write and receive e-mails, so your mom won't have to know. Relax, I'm here with you."

I couldn't fret any further because we already had pulled up at my parents' house. Just as I had expected my mom and Grandma were standing on the porch, waiting for us. I will never know how they do this. Ranger pulled me to him for a reassuring kiss, then smiled at me "Let's get this over with." I couldn't help but smile back, he always calmed me down.

As we walked up to the porch my mom immediately started in on me. "Stephanie Michelle Plum, what's this I hear about you breaking up with Joe? He is your last chance for marriage." Here goes. Ranger just looked amused. Bastard.

"Mom, you remember Ranger. Can we go inside? I need to talk to you and Daddy."

"Come on in. You aren't pregnant, are you?"

"NO! Hey Daddy."

"Hey Baby Girl. What's up?"

"Well, I'm going out of town for a while. I don't know when I will be back." With this I shot a glance at Ranger, hoping he would understand that he should explain the truth to my Dad, while I distracted Mom and Grandma, feeding them only the necessities. He gave me one of his barely there nods. Guess my ESP is better then I thought.

"Mr. Plum, could I talk to you for a minute?" I shot Ranger a thankful glance, which caused the corner of his mouth to tip up.

"Sure, come on. Let's sit down in the living room." Ranger followed my Dad, which left me with Mom and Grandma.

"Mom, what's new?"

"Let's go to the kitchen. I have some cookies." Uh, uh. Never a good sign.

Grandma had to add her own thoughts. "You guys going away to elope? He has such a nice package. I sure knew how to have fun with it." I so not wanted to go there.

"Mother!" Guess my mom agreed with me on this topic.

"No, we are not eloping. I'm going on kind of vacation. I need some down time." Little did she know. I wasn't exactly in for a good time on the beach, but she didn't need to know that.

"When do you leave?"

She wouldn't be to happy about this. "In approximately three hours. Before you can say anything, I know it is short notice. I'm kind of surprised myself, but I needed to take this chance. I will be out of communication, so as long as you don't hear anything, I'm fine." Ranger entered the kitchen and raised his eyebrow. I simply nodded, indicating that I was ready to leave. They had had enough time to grill me. Time to make our get away.

"Mom, we need to go. I still have to go visit Mary Lou. Bye, Mom, Grandma, Daddy. I will see you when I get back."

They hugged me, wished me well and we went out to the car. And on we were on our way to Mary Lou.

"What did you tell your mom?"

"I told her I would go on vacation, would be out of communication and don't know when I will be back. And she shouldn't worry, that as long as she doesn't hear anything, I am fine."

"You know that this is exactly the speech the soldiers give their families when they go on a mission?"

"Yup. I thought it is kinda like a mission, so I'm not that far off. And it's the only way to make sure that my mom won't alert the FBI and everything she can think of, when she can't get a hold on me for more than three days. What did you tell my Daddy?"

"Daddy's girl, huh? I told him the truth and made him promise not to tell your mom. He was more than willing to give this promise. Told me to tell you he loves you and respects your decision. And that he is proud of you that you live your own life, regardless of your mother's wishes. I'm impressed. But your grandma is something else."

"Did she try to pinch your ass?"

"Yeah, successfully." Hmm, Ranger grumbling. Gotta love Grandma Mazur.

We pulled up at Mary Lou's, but her Minivan wasn't parked at the curb.

"Looks like nobody's home. Let's knock. If nobody is here, we will leave her a note. Come on."

After some knocking and more waiting, we came to the conclusion that the Molnars weren't at home, so Ranger went back to the car to get me paper and a pencil.

_Hey Mare,_

_I'm going out of town for a while. I don't know when I will be back._

_I will be out of communication, so when there's an emergency try to get a hold of any of the Merry Men. They will know how to get in contact me. Ask Connie at the office for help. She knows how to contact them. I can't give you a number. You know, third world country. :)_

_I need to make some changes in my life and I'm about to do so. When you hear about me breaking up with Joe, you can confirm it. It's for good this time._

_Don't worry about me, I will be fine. I will see you when I come back._

_Love you, Steph_

That taken care of, we were on our way back to RangeMan. What I hadn't seen was that Ranger had read the note.

"Babe, what was it with the third world country?"

Not good. How to get out of this? Best way should be to be honest. "You know, you kinda make people believe that you could send them off to some jungle or something when they do something to anger you. Invading your privacy might me a reason to be shipped off."

"Babe, don't ever feel like you are invading my privacy. I know that I don't share much about myself, but that's not because I don't want you to know. It's just hard for me to open up. Feel free to ask. There will always some stuff I can't talk about, because it's classified or because it is too painful to talk about. I want to share with you, I' just not used to it. It has been a long time, since somebody was actually interested in me, not my money or my looks. There are only five people who know me as good as you do."

"Who? Wait, let me guess. Tank, Bobby, Lester, Julie and your mom?"

"Not bad. But my Mom knows nearly nothing about me. She didn't even call after the Scrog incident. She is sure it was my fault. She blames me and my job that Julie was taken. They live in Miami near Julie, so they see her regularly. But I talk to my Dad quite often. He's the only reason that I know what's going on in my family. And Julie knows a lot, but not everything."

We got into the car to go over to the RangeMan building.

_Let me know what you think, please._


	5. Chapter 4

_I don't own them, I don't make money._

_Thank you so much for all the reviews, they really helped me._

**Chapter 4**

We had pulled into the garage and every Merry Men, including Ella, stood in the garage waiting for us. We got out of the car and every one cheered.

"Hey, I didn't know you guys would be this happy to get rid of me." Ranger was just smiling. Damn him.

Bobby engulfed me in a bear hug. "Come on Bomber. You know we love you. We are just excited that you decided to more or less enlist in the army." My mouth fell open in shock.

"Army?" that was all I could squeak out. Ranger just send Bobby a death glare, who visibly paled.

"Uh, not actually enlist, but they will put you through the same training we all went trough. Just even better, because you will receive combined Rangers and Seals training. And most of us had only Ranger training. Some were Sela, but nobody here got the combined training. We know that you will make it trough this and make all of us proud. We know you can do this." By now I had started crying again. I couldn't help it. They were all so sweet, so I sobbed into Bobby's shoulder.

"Hey Bomber, no need to cry."

"Happy tears. You all support me, no matter what. Thank you so much." And off I went into a round of hugs and kisses by everyone. Finally Ranger swept me up and took me over to Ella.

"Uh, Ella, I want to thank you for the last week. You have been a great help. And you probably saved Rex' life," I said sheepishly. I can't help it, I'm a bad hamster mommy. Who knows what would happen if I actually had kids one day? I wouldn't want to risk starving my own kids.

"No need to thank me, Steph. I love cooking and caring for you." She smiled warmly at me. I love this company. They support me more than my own family.

"I have a question Ella. Would you mind caring for Rex while I'm away? I can't take him with me and you are my first choice for hamster sitting."

"Of course, dear. He could live in the control room, so everyone can see him."

"Uh, guys, gotta warn you. He doesn't like to cuddle. You should have a good supply of band aids handy if you want to take him out of his home to pet him." This got me a laugh from all the guys. Even Ranger was chuckling. They had never had to deal with Rex when we had to go to the vet.

Tank raised his eyebrow at us. I didn't remember leaning back into Ranger, but that's what I had done. And it felt good. Ranger just nodded at him, which caused all of the Merry Men to smile even bigger and Ella enveloped me in a hug. "Welcome to the family, dear." Huh?

Before I could say anything Ranger cut in. "Pretty zealous to get me married, aren't you? But that's a little forward at the moment. Did you pack me a duffel?"

"Of course." Wonder which question she had answered. Something to think about later.

"We need to get going. Everyone who is on monitor duty should say goodbye now. The rest can come with us to the airport." This caused a new round of bear hugs, kisses on my cheeks and rounds of "Bye Bomber, you make us proud." and "Bombshell, we know you can do this."

The guys piled into the Broncos. Ranger put his duffel in the trunk and joined me back in the turbo. After a quick kiss we motored off to the JFK airport to get our flight. I was kinda nervous and happy at the same time. Weird feeling, I can tell you. Ranger had placed his hand on my thigh, which helped to calm me. I had second thoughts about leaving, but I knew I had to this or I would never be completely happy. Ranger interrupted my thoughts.

"Babe, you know what I admire about you?" He glanced over at me, probably to see my reaction.

"Huh?" Eloquent, I know. So sue me, I was lost in my own thoughts. Normally Ranger has long gone into his zone this far into the ride, not so this day.

"You are scared as hell, you don't know what's going to happen and you still do it. You don't know the guys who will train you, but that doesn't deter you. I'm so proud of you." He took my hand to kiss my knuckles. Afterwords he placed our joined hands on his thigh.

"I might not know the guys, but you trust them, so I trust them. Easy as this." Does he not know that I trust him completely?

"Thanks. This means a lot to me."

The rest of the drive was made in silence as we each thought our private thoughts. The time until the departure was only a blur. I remember bits and pieces. The Merry Men giving me hugs and kisses, teasing me and encouraging me, going through security, waiting for boarding. The only thing I know for sure is that Ranger held my hand the entire time and for this I was grateful. He even bought me donuts. This man knows me better than I know myself. I was a bundle of nerves. Without sugar? Who knows what would have happened.

I'm pretty sure had I been alone I wouldn't have gone trough with this, but Ranger's and the Merry Men's support helped a lot to calm my nerves, too.

When we boarded the plane I had Ranger's hand in a death grip. I didn't want to let go and he seemed to know this. Once we were seated he started to whisper Spanish reassurances into my ear. That was so distracting that I didn't get a chance to fret about the departure, because when I could think straight again, we were already up at travel high. I spent the flight cuddled up to Ranger, sleeping, kissing and caressing. I can't remember the last flight that was so comfortable. I felt safe. I didn't wonder when we were going to crash. I just enjoyed spending time with Ranger, without work interfering. Maybe I should take Ranger with me every time I have to fly.

After nearly ten hours, the plane finally descended. We had to wait a little bit for our luggage, but then we were on our way. I could feel that Ranger was uncomfortable without a gun on him. He was tense, even more so than usually. I could understand this behavior in Trenton where everyone knew him, but in Mexico? Something to think about later.

Before I could ask Ranger about this, some well build guy walked towards as. Over 6 foot high and nearly as bulky as Tank. This has to be TK. Only army guys look like this. But he seemed to be older than the Merry Men, more like well in his forties. He had sandy blond hair and light green eyes, dressed in black boots, combats and painted on shirt. What's it with their dress code? By now he had approached us, and him and Ranger were sharing some manly hug thing, but he kept his arm around me the whole time. This guy was like Tank, when you saw him the first time, he could be a little frightening. Okay, a lot, but when you get to know them better and you learn more about the guy underneath the tough exterior you can see that they are only this tough for strangers.

Ranger made the introductions. "Babe, this is TK. TK, this is Stephanie Plum, your trainee."

TK took my hand in his. "Bombshell, nice to have you here. I've heard a lot about you."

"Nice to meet you, too." was the only thing I got out, grimacing. "Ranger, why did you let Tank call him?" They tell everyone about my luck with cars.

"Don't worry, I'm sure me and the guys will find something else to call you. And we knew about this nickname for quite some time now. But you are right, Tank was the one to tell me about the girl that constantly amazed them. Let's head to the compound, so that you can meet the rest of the guys and we can get you settled. At the moment you are the only one who gets personal training."

"Uh oh, I don't think I like the sound of this." I could only imagine what this would be like. Numerous guys who had nothing better to do then to torture me. Ranger knew what was going through my head, so he squeezed my hand in silent support. Did I mention I love this guy?

The trip to the compound took a little longer than an hour and was made in silence. Seems to be a typical army thing with all this silence stuff. I flattened my nose on the window the entire drive, amazed about the landscape.

We pulled up to a huge house, almost like a mansion. I hadn't realized we were already there, but Ranger had my door open and tried to get my attention. "Babe, we're here. Get out of the car."

"Huh?"

"Come on."

I took a better look around and could see the sea of camouflage in front of the house. Seems like everyone is out to welcome me. Hell it is freaking 7 am and they are smiling. It's way too early to be happy.

TK started the introductions. I hope I will ever get these names straight. "Everyone, this is Stephanie Plum, better known as Bombshell or Bomber. But I suggest you don't call her that. Steph, this is, beginning from the left, Jay, he will help you with weapons. Use, cleaning, all the important stuff."

"Yo." I just nodded.

"Next to him are Tim, Toby and Chris. They will help you with most of the Seals stuff. Diving, parachuting, and special ops, until they leave for their own op. But by then you should be fit with what they gonna teach you."

"I'm going to fly?" I asked with awe, eyes big as saucers. The dream of my childhood is about to come true. Ranger was chuckling. He knew where my thoughts were headed.

"Yeah. In the beginning you will be doing tandems, but they will explain the details to you. Next to Chris is Nuk, he will be your main teacher for hand- to- hand combat, but I or some others will occasionally join in, to train you to fight against more then one attacker at a time."

"Okay." Nuk had just nodded.

"Next one is Jake. He is a medic, so he will teach you all the medical stuff he knows and the mental aspects of military training. Gotta give Bobby a run for his money." Ranger just snorted.

"Yup." Bobby was the best. No point in trying, but I thought it was better not to offer my opinion at that point.

"I will teach you about knives, bombs and any combat weapons I can think of, so you can handle yourself with any weapon in any situation."

"Bombs might be a bad idea. You know my history." I didn't like to admit it, but sadly it was true.

"Yeah, I remember the Boxter."

"And how did you know that? Don't tell me Tank again."

"No, I think this one was Lester. We will all go running together and we will do our usual workout in the gym together, weights and stuff. And we will cook and eat together, so you will eat healthy. Questions."

"Can I go home?" I couldn't help it, training didn't sound so good anymore.

"Nope, it will be hard, but in the end you will be proud of yourself. It will be worth it. Trust me." And here we go. I can't refuse when somebody asks me to trust him. Ranger nudged me from behind, so I nodded.

"Alright, let's get inside to have breakfast. After that I will show you the compound and we will go through your trainings schedule. Afterwards I thought we would take you parachuting. Ric, you gonna partner with her?"

"Affirmative." Typical Army. Hope they don't expect me to talk like this.

"Oh sorry, I forgot Mick. He isn't here at the moment will teach you how to spot and loose a tail, hot wiring a car and the finer art of military communication. This includes another foreign language. You can choose between Spanish and French."

"Spanish" I answered smiling, knowing it would come in handy with the Merry Men. Most of them speak Spanish as their first language.

"He well also help you gain some computer knowledge. Hacking and research. Stuff like this." Damn.

Before we went inside Ranger went of to greet the guys. Seemed as they had known each other forever. New experience to see him interact so comfortably with anyone other than the Merry Men. Nice to see him kind of relaxed. Seems it was time for a vacation for him. That's unfair. He got a vacation and I would go through hell at the same time.

After Ranger said hello to everyone we went inside for breakfast. What I saw on the table might have fed a small army. Considering the background of this guys, it was probably appropriate. We sat down and the guys immediately dug in while sharing army stories. I had loaded my plate with scrambled eggs and sausages and syrup. Enjoy it while it lasts. Jep, that's my motto. I was pretty sure I wouldn't get something like syrup for a long time to come. I knew Ranger would rise his eyebrow at my choice, so I put my finger on it to prevent it.

"Smart ass."

I just shrugged my shoulders and dug in. It was absolutely delicious, so I couldn't hold in the moans. It took me some time to realize it, but everyone was staring at me. And they looked kind of pained.

"What?"

"Are you always this enthusiastic about your food?" Don't know who this was, I think it was Nuk.

Ranger had to add his opinion. "You get used to it." Thanks. Thanks a lot.

"Hey, I like to eat." Stupid army guys. Only because they have no sense for food. I wouldn't moan either if I only got skim milk and oatmeal.

"You might want to keep feeding her sugar. You don't want to test what happens when she goes into sugar withdrawal."

"Thanks Ranger. Just what I needed." Ass, he just smirked at me.

_Please review, let me know what you think. Should I describe the training in detail or more or less skip to the end?__  
By the way, any suggestions for a new nickname for Steph? I'm at a loss here, I'm counting on you. Thanks_


	6. Chapter 5

_Thank you all for your reviews. Special thanks to Kate for editing and Jamie for some great suggestions for the next chapters. Thank you!_

_I don't own them, I dont make money._

**Chapter 5**

After breakfast they showed me around. First I was shown to my room, which I was to share with Ranger while he was here. Wouldn't want it any other way. After that, they showed me were to find the gym, gun range, combat room, running track and any other facility needed for army training. I already felt like a recruit. When we had made our rounds, we went back to the family room in the center of the mansion to go over my schedule.

TK was the one to break it to me. "Alright, now you know where everything is. I think for the first week your trainer will pick you up at the lesson before. Your day starts at 5 with a run. We will build you up to ten miles, but you don't need to worry. After this you have time to shower. At 6.30 we will eat breakfast together. At 7 you will go to the gun range with Jay. At 8:30 you have hand to hand with Nuk until 10:30. Then we will hit the gym and you will have ten minutes to take a shower. Afterwards we prepare lunch together and you are free until 1:30. After lunch you have one hour of medic and mental training with Jake. At 2:30 Chris, Toby and Tim will take you diving, parachuting, what ever. They will tell you. How good is your swimming?"

"Not that good. Don't know when I swam the last time."

"Okay, we will work on that, too. At 5 I will pick you up for knives and stuff until 6. The rest of the guys will prepare dinner. At 7 Mick will teach you the essentials of communication, including coding and other important skills. You are free at 9. You ought to go to bed early, because 5 comes around pretty fast. While Ranger is here, maybe he can give you a massage at the end of the day. You will be pretty sore for the first few weeks. On Sundays you have another schedule. The day starts at 5 with running and immediately breakfast afterwards. After this we hit the gym and then we go to the warehouse to train for battles. Then you can shower and we will have lunch. Afterwards you have an hour to write e-mails. Then we go back to our battles or to survival training. In this battles we will use paint ball guns and special Kevlar vests. It's essential for team work. I think you will like it. Everything that doesn't fit with the categories will be taught on Sundays."

"Are you guys sure that I'm gonna survive this? I want to get better, not kill myself."

"We will treat you like a recruit, so you will feel like one. It's essential that you follow our orders, that you subordinate. We will teach you discipline." This came from Nuk.

Ranger knew how hard this was gonna be for me. He knew that I don't like following orders. "Babe, I know this is gonna be hard for you. But it will be worth it." He had pulled me into his lap, which I was grateful for. Kind of overwhelming and scary to be surrounded by tough army guys, who want to make you one of them. I had a feeling that I would have a better chance at understanding Ranger when I had finished my training. I was thinking about going home with Ranger, going back to Trenton. I knew he wouldn't force me to stay, but I owned it to myself, so I would stay. I knew that I had more or less signed my contract for weeks, or months, in hell.

"How long do you think I will have to stay?"

Again it was TK's turn to answer. Looks like he's the leader of this group. "Depending on your fitness and knowledge, which we will test tomorrow, I would say something between 6 and 8 months. Maybe longer, maybe shorter. It's depending on how fast you learn and how fast we get you fit. I will let you leave when I would send you out for a mission without a doubt, so you will go through the some evaluations as any normal soldier to determine your progress." Halfway through his explanation everyone but Chris had left the room to prepare for the day. Little did I know how serious he was about this mission.

"Can I contact anyone?" The was one of my minor problems at the moment, but I needed to know.

"We will set up a secure e-mail connection with RangeMan, so you can write them and whoever comes to the office. And you will get a sat-phone that only Ranger will have the number to, so you can give him a call whenever you need to. We won't allow any other visitors then RangeMen, but they are welcome, as long as they don't disturb the training. Ranger warn Lester. I have no problem shipping him off. Do you have anymore questions, or do you need time to digest all the information?"

"I think I need a little time." Can you suffer from information overload?

"Alright. You should head up to your room to get settled. Appropriate clothes are in the closet. We expect you to always dress in Combat pants, even for the workouts when we tell you so, and boots with a shirt, as well as various weapons, which I placed in the safe in your closet for you. The sweats are for the end of the day and any free time you might have. There will be more weapons to add as you go, when you are comfortable with them. But first you should get used to carrying at all times and all the holsters which come with that. Ranger can help you with them. I know that carrying at all times is hard for you, as you don't like your gun, so I left the bullets out. You need to get used to carrying before you have to carry it loaded. You will only have to load it for target practice until I tell you otherwise. Everyone who will train you is to be expected to control what you carry. You won't like the consequences if you don't carry. Little bit of advise. The guys will make sure that you only forget it once. What kind of gun do you use normally?"

Ranger answered for me. "Sig Sauer or Smith&Wesson .38."

"Okay. Now get settled."

Ranger and I went to grab our bags and headed to my room to investigate. The room was painted in a soothing light blue and pretty big. I had my own bathroom and walk in closet. Didn't know military could be this luxurious. I opened the closet for the first time and could only gape. In there hung five sets of different colors. Black, woodland camouflage, desert camouflage, khaki and navy. Each set consisted of five pair of combat pants, five t- shirts, five long sleeved shirts. Further there were three pair of combat boots, five hooded sweatshirts in black, three black sweatpants with 'army' printed down the length of the leg in gray, five tank tops and seven sets of panties and sports bra. Next to the undies I found a swimming suit with army embroidered on it. I also found two pairs of running shorts and two pairs of running shoes. Looks like even rain won't stop them. Next to the safe I found a Kevlar vest which hung next to a jumpsuit which Ranger explained was for parachuting. Seems the guys knew what I would need.

"Ranger? How do they know my size?"

"They know your size because I have it on file and Tank told TK when he asked if you could come. TK then sent Suzie to get your shopping done. All the girl stuff you will need should be in the bathroom."

"Who's Suzie?" I'm curious, so sue me.

"She does the cleaning and laundry. You won't see much of her, but she's nice. You will like her. As far as I know, she is the only female here. If you ask her, she will probably bring you a donut or ice cream once in a while. They won't let you eat all the junk you normally consume. You are the first female they've trained, but that won't make any difference."

"You know, I don't have any PJ's in this closet?"

"Yeah, you can sleep naked while I'm here, which I would greatly appreciate, or you can have one of my t- shirts. I had Ella pack a big pile of them, so I could leave you some sleep shirts."

I was amazed, this man knows me too good. Impulsively I turned around and threw myself in his arms. "Love you."

He looked surprised and amazed. And was grinning, big time. "Love you, too." Then he kissed my breathless. After we got our heart rate calmed down we went on.

"Alright, let's have a look at the bathroom."

"Lead the way." I couldn't wait to see the bathroom. Let's hope it's better than the one in my apartment. I was positively surprised.

"Look at the tub." I was squealing with joy.

"Yep, and it has jets to loosen your muscles. Don't refuse asking for help, Babe. I know these guys and they will give you a massage whenever you need one. It's important to keep your muscles flexible, or you will hurt yourself." I just nodded. I prefer Ranger massaging me.

"Look at the shelf. Whoever did the shopping bought me your Bulgari soap." I wouldn't have asked for it, but I was happy to have it. His scent always gave me strength, even when he wasn't with me. His scent was enough to keep me going. Little did I know that I would need it in the next weeks more than ever.

After we had investigated the suite I dressed in black cargos, boots and black tank top. Ranger helped me with the weapons and holsters. I now had to carry two guns, which I knew were not loaded. One sat in an ankle holster, the other one in a shoulder holster. At the other ankle Ranger had two knives secured. I was now more armed than him. I couldn't help but tease him with it.

"Ranger you know, I'm now heavilier armed than you. Looks like I'm not family material either." I grinned at him and he just laughed. I really liked to hear him laughing.

We went back down to the family room, where we met the rest of the group. After all they had promised to let me jump out of a plane. I just hope my mom will never get to know this. I was kind of worried, but I knew Ranger wouldn't let me do this if it could endanger me. I couldn't wait to get started.

Chris spoke up. "Steph, as you are the only one who has never jumped out of a plane, we will go over the basics at the hangar. You will jump tandem with Ranger, as we all have more than thousand jumps under our belts. Let's go"

We walked over to the hangar, to get the needed gear and to go over the precautions. I knew they were doing this for me. Ranger must have told them I always wanted to fly. I couldn't wait to get started, I was positively humming and the men were just laughing. They didn't know I always wanted to be Wonder Woman. Eventually we were prepared to board the little plane that was waiting for us. I knew what to expect and how to act, we just needed to take off.

"Come on, Babe. Let's get Wonder Woman to fly?" He squeezed me, while the others were laughing.

By now I was jumping in anticipation and dragging him over to the plane. Once everyone who wanted to jump was seated, we finally took off. Ranger fastened the hooks which brought me nearer to him. I was smiling from ear to ear, but my nerves were fluttering. He pulled me into a hug to calm me down and whispered Spanish reassurances in my ear. His breath brushed against my ear which caused me to shudder and him to chuckle. We finally reached the height to jump. We went over to the open door, where Nuk was standing to sent us off. We were the last to go.

"3-2-1 GO!"

We jumped and Ranger brought us immediately into a series of tumbles. I heard somebody screaming and realized it was me. It was a scream of joy, like you hear in roller coasters. Ranger stopped us, so my belly was to the earth, to savor the feeling of flying. I wanted to make this feeling last forever, but too soon I felt Ranger pull the jump chord to release the parachute. It was a weird feeling to be pulled upwards for a moment, but then we continued our slow descend.

The ground was coming nearer, so Ranger gave me last instructions for the landing.

"Babe, you see the cross. We will go down there. Bend your knees a little and take a few steps to loose momentum. Don't try to stop, you will only hurt yourself or me. Landing in 3-2-1."

We touched ground. As soon as he had released the clips that hold us together I took of my helmet and turned around in his arms, to find him smiling at me. I kissed him for all I was worth.

"That was amazing. When can we go again?" I was jumping up and down in joy, squealing like a child at Christmas.

"Woah, calm down." That came from Tim. "If you are this enthusiastic about every jump, we will never let you jump again. On a mission, you could alert the enemy. You wouldn't want this. Be happy, but stay quiet. Okay?"

"As long as I get to jump again." I was grumbling, but who wouldn't? My forever childhood dream came finally true and I wasn't allowed to be soundly happy about it. That was the moment when it finally registered what I had gotten myself into. Until the jump I thought it would be hard, but I wouldn't have thought it could be that bad. I finally caught on the fact that they would drill me in discipline, no matter what it took.

The guys were laughing about me, but I was jumping around. This time, because I was humming with adrenaline.

We went back to have lunch. Mick, who had arrived while we were out had prepared lunch, chicken with rice and vegetables. But it was delicious, so I couldn't hold in the moans. When we were finished I looked up expectantly. "Dessert?" Hey, it never hurts to ask, right?

TK was just laughing at me. "Nope, sorry to disappoint you, but you will only get healthy meals. No more sugar and fat than absolutely necessary." Damn. These army guys know nothing about food.

We had the rest of the day off, so Ranger and I went to the beach. After closer investigations I had also found a bikini in my closet. We really enjoyed the time together without interruptions. We both knew that this would be my last free afternoon for a long time, so we made the best of it.

We spent the night cuddled up to each other, shared caresses and kisses, but didn't sleep together.

_Let me know what you think. Please._


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

The next morning came around awfully fast, so Ranger had to drag me out of bed for my evaluation. That was fun. Not. They ran through the whole schedule to determine my level. I could have told them that I was pretty bad. They would just have had to ask. It was cruel. I could run a little bit more than a mile and a half, before I was so out of breath and soaked with sweat that they took pity on me. I just watched them run their ten miles. Afterwards I showered with Ranger and we had breakfast together. The time at the gun range was okay, thanks to RangeMan policy for target practice, but it wasn't anywhere near the others. They had provided me with a Sig Sauer, so I knew how to you it. Hand to hand was a total disaster. Nuk had me on the mat in 15 seconds flat. I didn't even land one punch, couldn't even score with a kick to his family jewels, as he was expecting this move. Ranger encouraged me to go on, or I would have boarded a plane back to Trenton at noon.

The session at the gym was okay, as they started me with small weights. We had lunch together and made some little exercises for control of your body and emotions. Not my strong suit either. After this disappointment Tim took me swimming and had me doing some diving exercises. I had no idea what he wanted me to do, so he showed me. I was really bad at it. The session with knives was a total disaster. I had never used knives to defend myself or to attack somebody. I couldn't even use one in the kitchen without being afraid of cutting myself. What did they expect of me?

After dinner the guys discovered that I had absolutely no knowledge about communication besides micros and earpieces, which we use for distractions. I already knew a little bit of Spanish, courtesy of Hector.

At 9pm I was dead tired and swaying on my feet. Ranger had to drag me into the shower with him and washed me. I was sore all over, and they hadn't even started on my training yet. The last thing I knew, Ranger was washing my hair, and the next moment he was poking me in the rips.

"Babe, come on. You shouldn't sleep in the shower. You might drown." He shoved me out and toweled me off. I went over to the bed and fell onto it face first.

"Wait a second and I will give you a massage." I could only grunt in response. By the time he was finished in the bathroom I was already dozing off, but this didn't deter him from giving me a massage. Sometime during the massage I fell asleep.

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The next two weeks where pretty much the same. I would try really hard, but couldn't succeed. I discouraged pretty fast, but Ranger kept me going. He would hold me when I cried because of exhaustion and defeat. He always encouraged me, always told me how proud he was of me, but my progress was very, very slow.

Nuk was the one who I could really talk to. He was the one who understood me best besides Ranger. One morning, it was during my second week in hell, as I had come to think of it, I just broke down during my training in the combat room. I started crying and sobbing uncontrollably. It was all to much. I missed my family and friends, the training was really hard and Ranger had had to leave for the day to take care of some business. He would return the next day, but he wasn't there. The guys had been waiting for this breakdown, and Nuk told me why, after he pulled me into his lap.

"Shh, calm down." He rocked me back and forth until my sobs had quieted down to occasional hiccups.

"You know, we have been waiting for this kind of breakdown." I was totally embarrassed that I had lost control like this. And Nuk knew it, as I tried to hide my face in his shoulder.

"Hey, no need to be embarrassed about this. It is totally normal that you have a bad day every once in a while, we all have. But you need to talk to somebody. You can talk to everyone of us, every time you need to. We all like you and only want what's best for you. But you are a bottler. You don't allow your feelings to surface. Once in a while everything you bottled has to come out. In the course of your training you will learn how to deal with it, but until then you need to allow us to help you. We all want to help you. And it might help to take your anger and frustrations out on a punching bag. It will help you to stay in control. Everyone needs to blow of some steam. We guys normally spar to do so, and when you are this good, you will join in."

I could only nod.

"So what is it that lies so heavy on your heart?"

"I miss my friends and my family." I hadn't had a chance to write the Merry Men or my father. I had no idea what was going on in Trenton, I felt kind of homesick. "And I feel like I make no progress, like I am worse than when I started."

"That's understandable. The training we put you through is based on basic training. You didn't go through basic, so you have a lot to compensate. Give it time and you will soon see the first improvements. Okay?" I nodded.

"Alright. I will see what I can do with the friends issue, but now let's continue."

The next morning I was in for a big surprise. After the run and my shower I went down for breakfast. At the table sat, smiling at me, Ranger. And he had brought Lester and Bobby with him. Seems like Nuk talked to Ranger. Ranger walked towards me to kiss me senseless. "Did you miss me, Babe?"

"Yeah. Had a rough day yesterday."

"Heard about it. That's why I brought two of the Merry Men."

"Thanks." I didn't get any further, because Lester grabbed me to hug me.

"Hey Bombshell, how are you?" Before I could answer Bobby had me engulfed in a bear hug of his own. "Bomber, how are you doing?"

"Better now. Had a rough day."

Lester answered. "Yeah, heard about it. That's why we came. Couldn't let you down, could we?"

With Ranger by my side my mood was immediately better. Lester and Bobby helped a lot. They told me the latest gossip at the office, about Rex and to top it of, they had a letter from Mary Lou. They had told her what I was up to and had her promise them that she wouldn't tell anyone.

After dinner I had the time to read the letter.

_Hey Steph,_

_Lester was here and told me what you are up to. Had me promise that I won't tell anyone. I'm proud of you and for your choice of lifestyle. You would never be happy with my life. _

_Good for you that you dumped Morelli. Cheating Bastard. I heard that he was screwing Terry the whole time you were together, as well as some ho from Stark. Sorry, but I think you should know. I heard some neighbors of his saw two black Broncos at his house. Wonder who they were. Joe called in sick this day._

I knew it. Thankfully we had always used condoms, although I was on the pill. I just couldn't trust him. Thanks to my spidey sense.

_Kinda dull without you around. The grapevine has nothing to say with you out of town. All the gossip mongers are bored. Serves them right._

They need their own life. Why do they always feel the need to talk about me?

_I miss you and wish you all the best. I fully support your decision. Your mother called me to see if I knew anything, but this was minutes before Lester showed up, so she knows nothing._

_I am proud of you! Keep going._

_Love you, Mare_

Thanks, Mary Lou. She was one of the few people who fully supported me. Gotta love this girl.

Bobby and Lester left after two days. They made sure the guys treated me right and joined in in my training, making suggestions here and there. Best of their visit were the two evenings we had together which we spent catching up and relaxing. I needed it desperately.

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But soon came the day when Ranger announced that he had to get back to business, so he had to leave. He told me this one Sunday evening after a little more than three weeks.

"Babe, I need to get back to Trenton. There are some big cases going down and Tank needs my help. I would like to stay longer, but I know that you are strong enough to finish your training. I know that you can do this."

"I know. And I understand this. But you have been a huge help." I understood his reasoning, but I was a little sad that he would leave, but I would finish my training and then amaze everyone when I go back to Trenton. The knowledge to do something that nobody thinks I am able to do was a great moral booster. It helped me to keep going.

"Thank you for understanding. I know how hard this is for you."

He then proceeded to kiss me, hard and with lots of tongue. I gave as good as I got. The next thing I remembered we were laying on the bed, naked. Ranger kissed his way down my jaw to my neck and I couldn't hold in the moans. My hands had found their way into his hair, holding him closer to me. He kissed and bit the juncture of my neck and shoulder what had me shuddering with desire and I could feel a wave of wetness between my legs.

He kissed his way further down to my breasts where he licked and nibbled one nipple, while he worked the other one with his hand, until my nipples were rock hard. I could feel his own arousal rubbing against the outside of my thigh. He kissed his way down, only to stop at my belly button were he drew circles with his tongue around. I was moaning and reduced to begging.

"Please..."

"Please what?" He brushed his knuckles against my nipple which sent a wave of excitement through me, but did nothing for my ability to speak. He continued his descent, kissed me at the juncture of my leg and torso where he sucked so hard that he marked me at his. He kissed and touched his way down my leg, without paying attention where I needed him most. I was trashing around, desperate for release. I could fell the heat pooling in my tummy and I wanted this orgasm.

"Please, inside me. Now!"

Ranger just chuckled. But I was desperate, so I touched myself. I let my own hands wander down my sweat slicked body, pausing only to pinch my nipples that had me moaning. I touched one finger firmly to my clit, running circles over it, while I pushed two fingers of the other hand inside me, my hips bucking. I was moaning and writhing. When Ranger saw what I was doing he groaned and leaned back.

"Please!"

"Nope, do it yourself." With this he started pumping his cock. I was so turned on that it didn't take me long to go over the edge. I screamed his name when I fell over.

When I came down from my high, Ranger was leaning over me, poised at my wet entrance.

"God, Babe, you are so beautiful when you come. And even more so, when you push yourself over." With this he pushed the tip of his cock into me. I brought my legs up around his hips to get him to go deeper, but he wouldn't budge.

"Please, more." I wanted him inside me and I didn't mind the begging. He pushed a little bit further in.

"Like this?" I didn't like his smug grin, so I clenched my muscles around him. He groaned and sheethed himself completely inside me. I clenched some more and he started pounding into me with hard, fast strokes. I could feel my orgasm coming, my muscles clenching. I fell over, screaming his name and could hear him groan out my name with his own release.

We made love long into the night, but when I got up to go running, he was gone. I found a red rose and an envelope on his pillow. I opened the envelope to find a picture of him. He looked sexy as hell in this picture, open hair and bare chested. Yummy. That's what a girl's dreams are made of. I also found a note.

_Morning Babe,_

_I let you sleep, because you looked so peaceful. And you need your sleep, especially after our workout._

_Always remember that I am proud of you. I know that you can do this._

_On your nightstand is a secure cell phone. Call me whenever you want to or need anything. I had the e-mail system set up, so you can write your Dad, Mary Lou and the Merry Men._

_We are all proud of you._

_I love you. Ric_

I put the note and the picture of him in my nightstand and went running with a big smile on my face, although I was a little sore in certain areas. Okay, a lot. But it was worth it. Our night together after the DeChooch deal was about sex. This night was about love, feeling complete, not just about getting pleasure, but about giving pleasure. I never thought sex could feel this good. Sex that is so emotional that you cry.

_Tell me your opinion, please._


	8. Chapter 7

_Thank you for all your helpful reviews. Special Thanks to Jamie for the ideas. This chapter is additional to what I had planned originally, but all the reviews convinced me._

_I only own the trainers. :)_

**Chapter 7**

The first three months were exhausting, to say the least. It was hard to exercise daily at first, but soon I got into it. They guys were hard with me, they made me going until I was exhausted and beyond. The first weeks I was constantly tired, but that didn't deter them. I had to keep up with my schedule and they didn't accept any excuses.

I forgot to carry once. It was in my fifth week and I was late for my run, so I forgot to arm myself. By this point I was expected to carry loaded, because I was now pretty comfortable with my gun. I was even doing pretty well. Nuk was the one who saw that all the holsters were missing. And they were right, I didn't like the consequences. They introduced me to sleep deprivation that night. I hated it.

After my session with Mick that night, I wasn't allowed to go to sleep like usually. They kept me going for most of the night. I had to go to the gun range for an hour, than two hours hand to hand with Nuk, who seemed to enjoy it. Afterwards I had to run one and a half hours. They didn't care how fast I was going, it had to be at least jogging and I had to keep going, only stopping to drink. After this was an hour in the gym where they had me doing push ups and crunches and stuff. Then we made another trip to the gun range. This time with long range riffles and a much bigger distance than normally. We stayed there for more than an hour until they liked the results. At three am I was finally allowed to go to sleep, but only on the couch. They didn't even let me take a shower. And I was expected to be ready to defend myself at any moment, so it was more like a nap. Thee next day I had to follow my normal schedule and they didn't accept any mistakes, I had to go 100 percent. To say it in one sentence: They had me in combat mode.

This night and the following day were hell. I was beyond exhausted, but had to keep going. It gave me a new sense of admiration for Ranger and guys like him who keep going like this for weeks on end when they are on a mission. But I learned my lesson. Now matter how late I was I never again forgot my weapons in the safe. I just didn't want to endure a night of torture again. But they sure knew how to brand it in my brain. Thanks guys.

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The time went by quickly. The guys and I had become great friends. They helped me as much as they could, always offering to explain and show it again and again. And all the guys gave great massages. After three months I had made some progress. I could run a 7minutes mile, but they wanted to get me down to five minutes a mile. Fine with me. I now actually enjoyed the training. The first to months were very tough on me. I called Ranger, or Ric as I call him now when it's not work related, every day. He encouraged me again and again to keep me going. I was exhausted and sore, but he kept me going. I had gotten better with every aspect of my training, but Spanish lessons and special ops training were by far my favorites.

I had lost a little bit of weight, but my body was more toned then ever, but they assured me, I would be gaining a lot more of muscle until the end of my training.

My training was going well, I took Nuk's advise to heart. I took my training one day at a time, didn't pressure myself too much. And it was easier this way. The boys had gotten to call me Dragon, don't ask me why, I have no idea, but the alternative was jelly or jam, which I both didn't like. And somehow it suited me.

In true army fashion they took me to a tattoo shop. I now had a beautiful dragon wrapped around my left hip. With the right pants you can't see it, but hipsters show it perfectly off. Ranger doesn't know about it yet. I think the boys in hindsight regretted taking me to get a tattoo, because a not so nice infection settled in. This caused me to take antibiotics for a week, means no physical activity, which caused a setback in my training. I didn't like it either. And boy was I cranky. I asked them for some sugary goodies to improve my mood, but they flat out declined me more sugar then necessary. Not even Suzie got me some sugar. I suspected they had told her to under no circumstances to buy anything to eat I asked her to without TK approving of it. This made it only worse. And as I wasn't allowed to go out on my own I had no chance in hell to buy something myself. Life is unfair.

I was never one to sit around and do nothing, but I was used to my workout now and couldn't go a single day without. I was an addict, not as bad as Ranger, but getting there.

My training was going pretty smoothly except for some pretty serious problems once and a while, but we are talking about me, so I wasn't surprised.

One day we were practicing a special way of diving and Tim got caught in some kind of fish net that was somehow attached to the wrack we were exploring. They had taken this tour to show me how to use and plant underwater explosive devises and especially where to get the most destructive result. When he got caught it was time for us to go up, because we were on the time limit, air was running out. Chris had signaled me to go up and was already out of sight. I was wondering where Tim was as I hadn't seen him for a while. Toby was monitoring us, because he had a cold and couldn't dive with us. Normally we have one of the other guys do it. My spidey sense was telling me that something wasn't right, but I couldn't signal Tim and I didn't have the time to go up to get Chris and go back down, so I was on my own.

The decision was made pretty quickly, I had to find Tim. I just knew he was in trouble. As I swam around a corner I could see him. He was so wrapped up in the net he couldn't move a muscle. I knew we only had 7 minutes left and we had to go up in this time too, but you have to go up slowly or you risk serious damage. I didn't know what to do first, but then my instincts took over and I remembered the diving knife I had attached to my hip. I got to work to get Tim free as fast as possible. After 4 minutes I had freed him, but we would need 5 minutes to ascend, and we couldn't rush it. That's where all the training came in handy. They had trained me to make smaller diving tours without additional air at all. But that was the first time I actually had to use.

We got out of the water and I could see Chris waiting for us, looking worried. But he didn't give us time to catch our breath.

"What took you so long? I signaled you when I was going up and you know you have to follow me!" Chris was angry at both of us, but before I could give him a piece of my mind Tim cut in.

"You should be happy she didn't go up with you. I was wrapped up in a fishnet and couldn't move a muscle. She cut me loose or I would still be floating around in the wrack. And now let's head back."

We went back and Jake looked us over to make sure we were alright. Nobody ever said anything about it again. Tim came this evening to me when I was getting ready to go to bed. He was bearing a donut.

"Thanks. Without you, I don't know what would have happened." He hugged me and was gone, but I had seen in his eyes that it haunted him. These guys knew from the first day, that they could die every day, but to be actually confronted with the possibility is something else. I know how he felt. I had gotten into this situation quite often, and that was why I was here.

The next morning I was running beside Tim.

"You okay?" I was worried about him. I had Ranger to fall back on in such a situation, but did he have somebody to catch him when he needed it?

"Yeah. Thanks." And that was the end of it. He had come to terms with it.

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Another of the Plum disasters happened approximately two weeks later. I was supposed to put together a small bomb, but was somehow distracted, because I was thinking of Ranger. This caused me to grab the wrong material. When we had planted the device on an old car instead of exploding like my cars used to it started to smoke and stink pretty bad. Nobody was hurt, so it wasn't a problem, but I was embarrassed.

This should be something I knew how to do it, considering my past, but it didn't happen. We put a new device together and the car exploded like we wanted to have it. When the car was exploding I started laughing like mad and couldn't stop anymore. I tried really hard, but within a few minutes I was rolling on the floor, clutching my belly. When they asked me what was so funny about it, I explained my car history to them. This caused them to laugh as well. Apparently TK had only told them my nickname back in Trenton, but not why I was called Bombshell. I was relieved when they stayed with calling me Dragon. I only had t threaten them that I now knew how to build a bomb and that I wouldn't hesitate to use their private cars to practice. It worked.

But I had also times when I was really, really good. Take this one Sunday for example. We were in the warehouse and fighting with paintball guns. They had set up a scenery like you would find in villages in the afternoon. People were milling the streets, you could see the fronts of houses and stores. But there were not only innocents, but enemies in this village. We were divided into two groups which were the enemies to each other. Chris, Tim, Toby and I against the rest of the guys. Some guy they knew from their army days, they didn't even tell me his name had come by, but he was monitoring us and didn't join in the game. We were wearing special vest. One reason for them is they protect you from the worst bruising, but they also have built in sensors and when a paintball hits you in a deadly zone, you are out. Three shots all over and you are also out.

Before we started my team made a plan. We were going in first, so we had the advantage of hiding.

"Alright guys. We go in and spread, so we cover as much ground as possible." Tim continued to tell us where we should take position. We had elected him to the leader for the battle. We rotated, so everyone got to be leader sometimes, even me.

We had only five minutes head start, so we had to be fast. I had a good position and saw the others approaching. Before they even knew what was going on I had TK and Mike down. We were all wired, but had three channels going. One for each team and one emergency. The rest of my team couldn't see them yet so I told them quickly.

"TK and Mike down."

"Proud of you, Babe." Was the response I got in unison. They had heard Ranger tell me sometimes and knew what a booster it was for me to get some praise. I was practically glowing.

Over the course of the afternoon, we took the entire team out. I didn't even have one hit, but my guys had each one hit somewhere. But nobody was supposed dead. The battles in the warehouse were by far my favorite time of the week. It wasn't just some theoretical boring stuff, I actually had to use what I had learned. We had to make plans, had to defend and attack. I just loved it.

Things were good in Mexico and I really enjoyed my time away from the Burg, from all the pressure and nagging. For once I could fully concentrate on the task at hand, getting better. I did pretty good.

The first weeks I felt like I was a burden to them. I was really bad, but over the time not only did I get better, but ma self-esteem rose as well. I had never felt better about myself, knowing that I could achieve my goal.

When I first came down to Corralles and heard the schedule I was worried I couldn't go the whole way, stop my training sometime. But I surprised myself. The constant support from Ranger and the e-mails I got kept me going. And boy was I glad I didn't give up.

Ranger had some big cases going on, so our phone calls were usually pretty short, but I needed them. Ranger Knew this so he made a point calling me every day. His shirts and shower gel gave me strength and power to go through the training. I was not only doing me a favor, but him and the Merry Men as well. I would be able to safe myself. Sure I would need back up sometimes, but they wouldn't have to worry about me as much as they used to have.

_Let me know what you think. I appreciate every suggestions you guys might come up with. Please review._

_HAPPY NEW YEAR!!_


	9. Chapter 8

_Thank you for your reviews._

**Chapter 8**

To reward my progress, they promised me a surprise after my monthly evaluation after four months of training. The evals were always hard, but I had something to look forward to, what made it a lot easier. After they analyzed the results they told me I might only need three more months of training. Give or take a few weeks. That in itself was great, but the surprise I got was even better.

I got it after dinner. Waiting for me was a big chocolate cake with thick chocolate icing. The dream of every chocolate addict. I squealed with joy, which caused the guys to chuckle, and dug in. The cake was positively delicious, so I didn't try to hold in my moans. I offered them some cake, but they declined. Freaking health nuts.

The best of the cake was the decoration on top. They had taken a picture of me and Ranger together while parachuting. It was a great picture, so I didn't eat the topping. I would freeze it and show Ranger when he came to pick me up, sometime in the next months. After he helped me get settled in, I had asked him not to visit me. We talked on the phone every evening, but I wanted to surprise him. He didn't like it, but he understood and respected my wish.

Every Sunday I used my free time to write Dad, Mare and the RangeMen. I was up to date on the gossip, skips and the politics in my family, as far as my Dad knew them. The Merry Men told me that Grandma Mazur had gone FTA two times so far. The first time she caused a bar fight in one of the strip bars she frequently visits. The second time she was picked up for carrying concealed by Officer Gaspick and accused him of using his job to molest her. To make things worse she threatened him with her gun. He didn't like it, so he took her in. The Merry Men had to pick her up. Nobody volunteered, so they wrote all their names on pieces of paper. Ranger drew the names. First time it was Hal and Cal's turn, the second time Woody and Vince had to bring her in. They swore they would never go anywhere near her again. Kind of understandable, as she was groping all four of them. Dad said my mother's tippling is worse than ever. Who would have thought. I wondered who she was blaming, as she couldn't blame me.

As I was reading this I was laughing so hard that my boys came running into the comm room. When I had explained why I was laughing, they were laughing with me. Afterwards I had to tell them stories about Grandma. They particular liked our escapade in the funeral parlor. I didn't think it was that funny, but the boys just told me they understood now why the Merry Men called me Bomber. That surprised me. Because I had explained my nickname before, right after the bomb debacle.

I had nobody told about my new nickname or tattoo. Another surprise for Ranger.

That evening Ranger called. I was already in bed. I had come to use the time I had off to sleep. I needed to or I was totally exhausted at noon at the latest. The boys thought it was funny. Hey, you don't get your average time of sleep from 9 hours down to 6 hours in a few weeks. What did they expect? I live to sleep and eat, I wasn't allowed to do either. But you get used to it. Ranger calling me was unusual, normally I called him. Mick had downloaded the Batman theme song for me. Another story they thought of highly amusing. Glad to provide entertainment.

I picked the phone up. "Yo."

"Yo yourself, but that's my line."

"I'm army too, so don't get your panties in a twist." Oh shit, now all I could think about was Ranger going commando.

"Babe," he growled. "What are you up to?"

"I'm already in bed, had a eval today. I swear. They hate me. In training they are pushing, but when they make an eval they push even more."

"In bed? What are you wearing?" His voice had dropped a notch or two, very sexy.

"Only panties. It's pretty warm around here."

"Babe, what you do to me."

"What are you up to?"

"I'm sitting in the overstuffed chair in your bedroom, because I miss your smell. My shirt is already off. Touch yourself for me." His voice was husky, like the night before he had to leave.

I could only moan. We had had phone sex before and it was always hot. I had never before enjoyed phone sex as much as with Ranger. Just the memory of our previous encounters made me moan. Ranger encouraged me.

"Babe touch your breasts for me, twist your nipples like I would do. Imagine it is my hands on you."

Moaning, I asked him to touch himself. He knew how much it turned me on. "Ranger, touch yourself. Imagine it is my lips on your cock, swirling around the top, licking of the pre-cum."

He was groaning and I could tell he was getting closer.

"Babe, flick your finger over your clit, rub it like I would do, trust two of your fingers inside you. Babe, ride your fingers for me." He knew how to arouse me. I could feel the heat pooling in me, the warmth arriving.

I was panting, my breath coming in gasps, but Ranger's breathing wasn't better. I was close, so Ranger spurt me on.

"That's it Babe, come for me. Let me hear you come" That was all I needed to let myself fall into an amazing orgasm. I screamed his name. I could distantly hear Ranger finding his own release as he whispered my name.

When my heartbeat had returned to normal I attempted to speak again.

"Wow, that was..."

"Amazing?"

"Yeah, I thought more along the lines of earthshaking, but yeah." We were silent for a few moments.

"Uh, Ranger, was there a reason you called, besides that you were horny?"

He chuckled. "No, in fact I wanted to tell you that I miss you and that I love you. The government called, they want me to go on some mission. I have to go tomorrow. Should take five days, a week tops. Wanted to let you know that I'm out of communication for this time. I will call you when I get back."

"Alright. Be safe, okay?"

"'course."

"Okay, love you."

"Love you, too. Bye."

Click.

Wow, Batman knows the word 'bye'. Will wonders never cease. I went to sleep, dreaming of nightly workouts with Ranger. My favorite dreams, beats the nightmares of Scrog and Stiva without a doubt.

My training had helped me to understand this important aspect of his life and I could understand him. The thrill of the chase, the hunt, the adrenaline rush after a successful capture or an accomplished mission. I knew where he was coming from. The boys had even offered to get me enlisted in such a program myself. I wasn't sure yet. I would talk about this with Ranger and then decide. They understood that I couldn't and wouldn't make this decision all by myself.

TK had decided that I should go on a mission with them after I had finished my training. It wouldn't be something big and overly dangerous. Just difficult enough to show me how much I had learned. I wasn't sure about this, but it was what all my training was for, so I agreed. Could be a good boost for my self- esteem. They knew how little I thought about myself when I started training. They had all supported me and I had a new feeling of respect. For myself, but also for all the soldiers who constantly risk their lives for us and our safety.

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The weeks flew by and I was at the end of my training after 6 and a half strenuous month. Ranger had made it home safe and unharmed after his mission, for which I was grateful. Grandma Mazur had gone FTA once more and the Merry Men had decided that it was Ranger and Tank's turn to pick her up. I think Lester had decided and the rest of them had backed him up. They survived it with minimal groping. I didn't even know what she had done. Dad didn't know, he just mumbled something about burned into his eyelids and nightmares. Sounds like nudity in public to me.

Today was my final evaluation.

I can run 10 miles in under on hour.

I can swim 2 miles without problems.

I can fire every gun you can come up with, even sniper rifles.

I can beat the shit out of two attackers at least, sometimes even three enemies.

I can handle knives, from combat knives over throwing knives to swords and a lot more.

I can plant, built and deactivate bombs.

I can handle rocket launchers.

I can spot and lose a tail within minutes.

I am perfectly comfortable with civilian protection and combat mode.

I know how to dive and have mastered multiple ways of safely jumping out of a plane.

I speak fluidly Spanish and have been working on French.

I have lost every ounce of fat. I have a six pack and my body is very toned.

I have my own zone, something I had always admired and know most of the mental tricks.

I now carried at least three guns with several extra clips, a combat knife tucked into my left boot and several throwing knives tucked into my right boot and attached to my forearms.

To say it in one sentence: I was ready for action.

And I couldn't wait to have it. I knew and could handle everything a Ranger and Seal could. I was prepared or a life as a bounty hunter or perhaps something more. I had achieved my goal, I was physically and mentally stronger.

Ranger didn't know that I had graduated as the best trainee TK had ever had. I was proud of myself. I had talked to Tank to tell him that I had finished my training and that I was going on a mission with the guys. We had agreed that I would give him a call when he could pick me up at the airport. I wanted to surprise Ranger, not something easy to accomplish, so I would go home, instead of him picking me up.

Nobody outside the compound knew how much I had changed and what I had accomplished. To document my progress TK and his team had taken a lot of pictures to show around at home. And they had made a tape of every evaluation. Gotta love this guys.

But now I wanted to do this mission. I wanted to test myself. Our mission wasn't that dangerous. We had to do an extraction of a hostage, held by some drug guys. We knew the location and the blueprints. We spend several days planning the mission and digging out background information. How to approach the building, how much guards and where. Who disables which guard, who goes in and who provides the distraction.

And easy as this we accomplished the mission. We had the guards drugged with pretty strong tranquilizer darts so we didn't need to worry about them. The hostage was held in a little room in the basement, but was healthy. The guy had a few bruises from the cuffs and shackles, but was otherwise unharmed. The only a problem we had was to deactivate the bombs that were scattered throughout the building. As the back up guards arrived we were long gone and had additionally gather a lot of evidence and planted some bugs throughout the building. The guards didn't even see us coming, but one of them had managed to press a panic button before he passed out. I was pretty good with the 'be smoke' thing now.

I was on the extraction team, because the guys already knew that I am good at distractions and I should try something new. After the mission, I was on a adrenaline high, but I had learned how to control this. I absolutely loved it and was seriously considering doing this on a more frequent basis, but I wasn't sure yet. I was an adrenaline junkie, running on a high during the whole mission, and I couldn't get enough.

Two weeks before the mission was scheduled TK suggested to call me Moxie. They told me it meant ambitious and determined, aggressive, skillful and courageous.

It suited me even more than dragon. I didn't know how they came to calling me dragon, but I liked Moxie much better, so off we went to a tattoo parlor, so I could get another ink. I chose the Japanese word for achievement, tassei, and got it between my shoulder blades. I didn't want to hide it, because I was proud of myself, of the progress I had made.

The guys had learned from the last tattoo and gave me an antibiotic lotion to rub into from the start. I was grateful, because the infection in the dragon just sucked. And they didn't want me to be out of action when it was time for action. They knew I needed this mission, maybe more than the hostage.

Everyone we met to prepare the mission, the briefings and debriefings, they introduced me to as Moxie. Nobody ever asked my given name. I was Moxie, and they accepted it. Weird guys. I was glad they didn't try to introduce me as Bomber. I may have had to inflict serious physical pain. The guys knew this, I had kicked their asses several times.

_Jamie, thank you for the nickname and tattoo idea._ _I think it's pretty good._

_If you want to see the tattoo have a look at my account, there's a link. _

_Let me know what you think, I appreciate it._


	10. Chapter 9

_Don't own them, don't make money._

**Chapter 9**

The day to say goodbye had finally arrived. We were standing at the airport, waiting for my flight to be boarded. I wanted to go back to Trenton, but also didn't want to leave. These guys had helped me a lot over the last six months. I dreaded leaving them behind, but I was anxious to see Ranger. Talking on the phone and via e-mails isn't the same as spending the night cuddled up to each other.

Tank already knew when I would be back, and he would come to pick me up at the airport. I was kind of uncomfortable walking around unarmed. I never thought that I would say this, but I felt kind of naked without my guns and knives. TK had called in a favor with the government and had gotten me a license to be able to stash my armory in my check- in luggage. And I had a lot of luggage. I got to take the whole closet, that included now special tanks to show off my new tattoo. Tank had just laughed when I told him to bring a big vehicle. The license made me feel better, so I could dress myself once I got my luggage back. For now Mick had lent me his back up piece. He had felt how uncomfortable I was. These guys knew me too good.

My flight was announced and the dreaded time to say goodbye finally came. Everyone swept me up in a hug and gave me a kiss on the cheek. Everyone whispered in my ear that they were proud of me. We agreed to stay in contact and we promised to visit each other. But now I wanted to get home. I wanted Ranger to hold and kiss me, to touch me. But I couldn't wait to show all the people I had left at home, that I had done it. I, the Bombshell Bounty Hunter, had become so good, that I could beat military guys with years of training. Maybe, if I got lucky, I could beat Tank or even Ranger. I couldn't wait to test it.

Before long I sat in the plane, ready to leave for Trenton. During the flight I made use of one of my new skills, I slept. I had never been able to sleep on a plane without Ranger.

When the plane finally began its descend I got a little nervous. Sure the guys had told me what had been going on, but I needed to catch up with Mary Lou and my parents, with the girls at the office. It was time for a girls night out, but first I needed to see Ranger. My fretting had taken up so much time the next thing I knew the plane had stopped and the first passengers were leaving the plane. But I was also a little afraid of what people might say.

"Stop it Plum, it doesn't matter what other people think. You are happy with yourself. That's all that's important."

After my little pep talk to myself I walked towards the luggage claim, where I had asked Tank to wait for me. But apparently he wanted to surprise me. Standing there, next to him, was Ranger, his jaw nearly hitting the floor. We ran towards each other, totally ignoring everyone around us. Seemed like Tank didn't tell him who they were waiting for. He engulfed me in his arms and kissed me breathless. I had Tank told to look for Army luggage, so he gathered all my bags while Ranger was kissing me. And we had attracted quite a crowd. Once Tank had collected all my bags, I snagged the case with my weapons, threw a "Be right back!" over my shoulders and disappeared into the Lady's room, where I dressed myself. I was already wearing all the holsters, so I only had to attach the weapons. But you shouldn't show in public how much firepower you have at hand.

I emerged five minutes later to the stares of Ranger and Tank.

"What? I had to get dressed?" They just smiled and Ranger made a motion for me to turn around. He wouldn't see much. I was wearing black combats and heavy boots with a snug fitting black tank top and a black leather jacket to hide two of my guns and the throwing knives. My hair was longer and swept up in a high ponytail, topped with Ranger's Seal hat. I was in combat mode, but smiling.

"You had to get dressed? You are carrying? Willingly? Where are the aliens who took our Bomber?"

"Sorry Tank, I go by Moxie now or Dragon. Depends on who is calling me. And yes, I carry. A lot. You wouldn't want to find out what and how much."

"I like your new attitude, Babe." He was lucking funny at the mention of 'Moxie', I just couldn't decipher what had crossed his eyes, because it was gone too fast.

"Worked hard to get it. Let's go, I'm hungry." This only caused Tank to snicker.

"Hey, the last time I had sugar was over three months ago. They only fed me rabbit food. I need sugar. And you both know how delicious the stuff is they serve on flights." I hadn't had Ranger, but only my shower massager. And it was made worse by the sugar withdrawal I went through. You have no idea how hard this was for me. Ranger flashed me his patented wolf grin. He seemed to know where my thoughts were headed. But Batman, gotta surprise you, I enhanced my ESP as well.

"Gotta wait for that, Batman."

"Huh?"

"I can ESP, you know?" Ranger was actually speechless and and Tank grinned at me, giving me the thumps up.

Tank was getting impatient. "Alright guys, let's get going. Wouldn't want to let the others wait to long."

Ranger was surprised. "They knew?" I didn't know, so Tank had to answer.

"Yes, everyone besides you. I think they already have TK and his team on a video call, catching up. So let's go. I don't want to risk Bomber's stomach growl so loud that security comes running. We can hid a drive through on the way home."

"Yup." Ranger still looked like he couldn't believe it. The Merry Men had managed to keep something from him. This should be a first.

"No MacDonald's, thanks. I prefer Ella's cooking." This got me a raised eyebrow from Tank.

Ranger just stared at me, so I grabbed his hand and dragged him towards the car, while Tank took care of all my stuff. I had only a little backpack which I had had on the flight with me. Filled with veggies, water and the latest version of Guns& Ammo. I had changed a lot. 8 months prior, my bag would have been filled with sweets and make up. I never wore make- up anymore on a daily basis. It's to much trouble to take off when you are dead tired and swaying on your feet and my skin was glowing anyway. I only used it for special occasions now.

Tank beeped the car open and took the drivers seat. I shoved Ranger into the back seat and followed him, snuggling up to him. I leaned up to breath "I love you." into his ear and fell asleep.

I woke up when we arrived at the Haywood offices. Everyone was gathered in the garage, all the Merry Men, Ella, my parents and Grandma Mazur, Mary Lou, Lula and Connie. Thank god they didn't invite Valerie and her family. Morelli wasn't there, but I was fine with that. I had not once thought about him while I was away, whereas I had thought about Ranger in every free minute I had, especially while he was on his mission.

Ranger already had my door open. "Come on, Babe. It won't be that bad."

"How can you say this? They gonna find out that I lied to them. My mom will disown me. I will never get cake again."

"Calm down. You lived three month without any sugar at all, so you will survive one more day as well. I will tell Ella to make you a cake. But now come on." I had told him about the surprise cake and Suzie's resistance to feed me sugar.

Finally convinced, I got out of the car. Everyone was moving in on me and I had to restrain myself not to pull a gun on them. 'Plum, get back to civilian mode.' It was only a little over a day that we had accomplished the mission and I was still high alert. Something I had to work on. Ranger seemed to sense my unease. He stood behind me and pulled me into him, calming me but also making it impossible for me to pull the gun stashed in my waistband, until Lester took me to engulf me into a hug and handed me off to the next Merry Man. I wandered from guy to guy, everyone praising my accomplishments, how proud they were of me.

I finally stood in front of my mom, who was crying. She hugged me and sobbed, "Stephanie, I'm so proud of you. I was so worried, but Ranger assured us that you were okay. But let me have a look at you. You have lost some weight, you look so great. You know, I always was against your job, because I was afraid you would get hurt. But now I'm sure you have everything what it takes to be a good bounty hunter." My jaw hit the floor.

That's a first, my mom is proud of me. My dad just hugged me and whispered "Proud of you."

Lula and Connie were as enthusiastic as always. "Damn, white girl, you look good. But I could bust a cap up your ass for not telling us."

Tank felt the need to cut in "Wouldn't try this if I were you, Lula. White girl here can protect herself. Kicked TK's ass thoroughly."

That caused a series of "Wow" from the Merry Men.

My dad asked "THE TK?" Which got him nods from all the Merry Men and Ranger as well. Seemed like it was a very, very big deal, to kick his ass. But how did my Dad know of him? Sure he was in the army, but what did he do? When I thought about it, I knew almost nothing about my dad's past in the army. This screams special forces. I would have to ask him about this later.

Grandma Mazur was occupied with ogling the guys, so only Mary Lou was left to welcome me back. Ella had nodded at me and left, probably preparing something to eat for me. She knew that I could eat constantly. Mary Lou engulfed me in a hug like everyone else before.

"I'm so glad you are back. It was boring without you. Not a single car was blown up since you left. The cops don't know what to do with their time and money. They have nothing to bet on anymore."

"Let's hope we can keep it this way. I'm glad to be back." And if it was too boring, I could always plant a bomb myself. Should be funny to see their faces.

"We should have a girls' night soon, so we can catch up. I'm sure you have a lot to tell us." I had only time to nod.

"Alright Ladies and Gentlemen," interrupted us Tank, "let's move this party upstairs. Ella should have everything ready by now."

My family and the girls took the elevator while the guys, Ranger and I headed towards the staircase. That got me another surprised look from the guys. They knew I used to hate exercise. Little did they know. I was a junkie.

"Ranger?"

"Yeah?"

"Where am I staying?"

"I thought, you would move in with me, if this is alright with you." His tone was light, but I could feel how tense he was suddenly.

"I would love to." I grinned at him. I could see the tension flow out of his body. His jaw unclenched and his shoulders loosened.

"Why are you asking?"

"Well, I should loose some of my armory. When I'm inside I have to take off my jacket and I don't want my mom to see the throwing knives that are attached to my forearms. And one gun less should do, but I wouldn't want it to lie around, in case Grandma Mazur finds them."

I knew that I was safe in the building, so I could let my guard down a little. I was a lot more like Ranger now, always alert, always aware of my surroundings. This caused me to be constantly armed. And I was relieved that I wouldn't have to live in my apartment anymore, it's just not safe. I always knew this, but it had never bothered me. Another aspect of my life that had changed. I just hoped my luck with cars would also improve, because then my life would be nearly perfect.

"Okay, we can head up to the apartment to undress you and then join the party, shall we?"

"Yup."

"Babe, what are you carrying besides your throwing knives and at least two guns?"

"I think you should explore and find out later. I have some surprises for you." With that I gave him my version of the wolf grin. And he was in for some big surprises.

We deposited my weapons in the safe in his closet and headed down to the big conference room. Now that I had taken off the jacket you could see how toned my body really was. Ranger hadn't seen it before and he was impressed, but he wasn't the only one. Everyone was staring at me. I could understand them, but it was a little unnerving to be watched like animals at a zoo. Okay, I had chosen my clothing to show off my body, but they could have checked me out a little bit more subtle.

"What?" My tone was clipped, but I was tired and hungry.

Lester piped up "Bomber, you sure lost some weight and gained some muscle."

"Yeah Lester. That's what training does to you. And I go by Dragon now at least to those who are close to me. The government knows me as Moxie, so you can choose. No more Bomber, please."

"How did you come to these nicknames?" Vince asked. Why did they all look at me with such big eyes? I would have to ask one of them later.

"I have no idea what caused Dragon, you will have to ask TK. He came up with it. Has anybody called them to tell them I made it home safely?"

"Yeah, we agreed to have a video call in about an hour. Should give you time to eat first." Tank informed me. "But what's with Moxie?"

"Moxie I got when I had finished my training, but before we went on a mission. TK can also explain it later."

Ranger eyes had widened slightly, shocked expression were on everyone else's faces. "You went on a mission?"

"Yeah, wasn't a big deal. Can we talk about this later?" The information wasn't qualified, but I didn't want my family and friends to hear this, except maybe my dad. The guys nodded, they understood where I was coming from, and my answer had satisfied them for the moment. They knew they would get their answers later. And this whole company is known to be patient.

Until then I hadn't realized the feast Ella had prepared for us. I walked over to help myself and had to find out that Ella once again had outdone herself.

"Is there anything else I can do for you dear?"

Before I could think "Adopt me" slipped out. Oops, I sure hope my mom didn't hear me. Ella just smiled warmly at me, loading my plate down with a little bit of everything. I trusted Ella to prepare something I would love, so I didn't care. While Ella had loaded my plate Ric came up behind me and wrapped me in his arms.

"Love you, Babe" he whispered in my ear, so no one else could hear him.

"Love you, too."

"Can I still call you 'Babe'?" Huh?

"I will strangle you if you don't." I could feel him chuckle behind me.

He sat down in a chair at the big conference table and pulled me into his lap.

"Don't you want to eat something?"

"I thought we would share a plate. I wanted to feed you Babe." No way. That's my plate.

"Nope. I don't think that's gonna happen." He looked surprised and somewhat shocked. Okay, maybe I better share or he will withhold other things from me. Not a good idea. "Okay, changed my mind. We will share." He grinned at me. Bastard could probably read my thoughts.

After we were all full it was nearly time for the call with my guys in Mexico, so everyone but the Merry Men, Ranger and my Dad stood up to leave.

They came, hugged me goodbye and told me to come by soon. My mom invited us for diner, but I wasn't sure if we could make it.

"Daddy, how come you are staying?"

"There's a lot you don't know about me, but you are going to find out in a few minutes." Why was everybody grinning at me?

_Please let me know what you think. Thanks._


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Ranger nudged me back into our chair. "Babe, Tank has TK and his team on the phone, we should have the video feed up here in a minute."

I was looking forward to this call, because I was sure the guys were going to share some stories about their days in the army. And I would get to know my dad better.

Until I heard TK's voice I hadn't seen the big screen on one of the walls.

The guys exchanged stories, caught up and generally talked big. I was sitting in Ranger's lap, content with snuggling up to him. I could sit like this for a long time. I must have dozed of, because TK startled me when he called my name.

"Hey Moxie, you alright?"

"Thy already fed me. And I got sugar! Ella isn't as cruel as Suzie." Another skill I had learned, I'm instantly wide awake and not drowsy for at least an hour.

"Well, I gave her order not to bring you fat and sugar. Besides, we had a good laugh about your addiction, Dragon."

Ranger wanted to know "So where did this nicknames come from?" All the guys looked curios now. And I wanted to know, too.

"Well, the story to Dragon is kind of funny. She was in her third month of training and PMSing. She came to me and asked for ice cream or donuts. I told her I wouldn't allow it. She was in a bad mood anyway, but when I denied her sugar, I swear, it was frightening. Her eyes got this unholy gleam and her nostrils were flaring and I swear there was smoke coming out of her ears. She looked like she was gonna roast me for dinner. That's when we got to call her Dragon. If it had been possible she would have spied fire at me."

"You Bastards. You never told me why." I was angry. And I could remember the evening he had just relived. I was miserable. I just wanted to have ice cream and pity myself, but army guys don't know this concept.

Nuk spoke up. "Well Moxie, look in the mirror, that's what you looked like this evening. You would have killed us if we had told you. And we have it on video, so you can watch it." Damn, they were right, but I didn't have to like it.

Ranger whispered in my ear. "Calm down, Babe. I love you just the way you are, including your temper tantrums. You look so cute when you are angry." Well, I guess it's okay then. I melded back into Ranger.

Bobby was curious. "So TK tell me about this mission you took her on. And what is it with Moxie?"

I had told them not to talk about my tattoos before I had a chance to let Ranger find them, so I didn't have to worry about it. And I liked the nickname, although I had realized, the Merry Men would probably still call me Bombshell, at least in private.

"We called her Moxie after her last evaluation. She thoroughly kicked our asses. She has the highest scores of any trainee we have ever trained here. Downright embarrassing to be taken down by a girl who just trained for a little longer than six months. But we learned some things as well."

"What?" Tank, chatty as ever.

"Well, always wear a cup when you try to take her down. She will go straight for the balls. And she has the power to do some damage." This caused some grunts in Mexico. All the guys had at some point made the experience that I didn't hesitate to scramble any future plans for family, but they had caught on quickly. The Merry Men just chuckled. They would make this experience on Monday. Let's see who has the last laugh.

"Okay, so what's it with Moxie?" Vince wanted to know.

"Yeah, Moxie means she is ambitious, she has spirit, she is courageous and determined and has great skills. And she can be kind of aggressive to get what she wants. So it suited her. And she likes it a lot more than Bomber."

Ranger wanted to know. "I talked to one of my contacts and he mentioned a girl, Moxie, taking down Sanchez, the drug lord in Colombia. Know anything about this?"

"Well, that would be the girl sitting in your lap."

"What? You never told me about taking him down. We only talked about the hostage!" I was furious. Another male with an ego so big he can't see that I'm able to make my own decisions. "You should have told me. I would have totally gone for it, but telling me afterwards won't go well with me. I can make my own decisions, and I need to do so!"

Mick spoke up. "Calm down, Moxie. We weren't sure how you would take it so we didn't tell you. You remember the guy in the room with the hostage?"

"Yeah?"

"That was Sanchez."

"Well, but I killed him." I had some problems to process this information.

"Yeah, because you had to. If you hadn't gotten him first, he would have killed you. These guys don't go for your heart. They shoot you dead center. No vest in this world can save you from this. But his guards are dead, also. We had pretty strong tranquilizers. They never woke up. We took the top of the cartel and their best guards out. The rest was round up by the locals."

"Wow." All the guys nodded at me. Ranger leaned in. "Proud of you, Babe."

TK' team was lounging in the family room, so Tim spoke up. "What? You not gonna put up a fight, drag someone to spar to work of some energy?"

"Well, I have other ways to work of my energy now. And I'm not sorry for Sanchez. I did what had to be done. Gotta trust the system. I don't like that you guys didn't tell me up front that we were going to kill him, but I'm okay with the result." All the guys were staring at me in disbelieve.

My dad, who had been quiet until now, shook his head. "Baby, you won't fight them?"

"No?"

"Well, TK, maybe you should tell her about the contract."

"Oh, yes Frank, I nearly forgot. Moxie, I had one of my contacts draw up a contract for you. It's similar to the one Ranger got, but I don't know the details, and some stuff is still negotiable."

"Uh, TK, how do you know my dad?" I was obviously the only one not knowing, because everyone, the guys in Trenton, and the guys in Mexico, were smiling at me.

My dad answered. "Well, TK's dad and I served in the special forces together. I retired after four years, shortly after Valerie was born. Your mom hated it that she didn't know whether I would be at home for the birth of my first child or not, so she urged me to retire. Anyway, TK's dad, Mo, and I stayed in contact. I always wished I would have a boy, who would follow my lead and join the army, but I got two beautiful girls. Mo knew how much I missed everything to do with the army and invited me for the graduation of TK. That's were I met Ranger and his team."

"Stop! You are telling me that you have known Ranger for more than ten years? You knew who I was working with? And you knew the guys who would train me, at least their leader? And you never told me? Never hinted about it? None of you?"

"Well, that's why I was always okay with you being a bounty hunter. I knew Ranger would watch over you and protect you. He would keep you safe. And when you came to say goodbye before you went to Mexico Ranger told me who would be training you. I called TK before you were even on the plane."

"Wow." I was speechless. My dad had known these guys even before I got to know them.

Ranger just pulled me harder against him. "Your dad's right Babe. When I came to dinner with you the first time he suspected it was me, but he wasn't sure, so he asked me. And his instincts were right, just like yours always are."

I had a lot to think about, but one little tidbit flashed back in my mind.

"TK, you were talking about some contract."

"Yeah, sorry forgot about it momentarily. It's a contract with the government, like we all have them. You don't have to sign it immediately or at all. You can take your time looking it over and then decide. It should be delivered to RangeMan tomorrow."

"But why?" I was seriously wondering why they thought I could handle it. There are only a few women who go on missions like all these guys do, and never solo, always with a team.

"Do you think we didn't notice how much you loved going on this mission? You were humming with excitement, planning, processing, gathering Intel. You just as bad a adrenaline junkie as Ranger. Admit it, we know it all. And we know that you can handle this. We have talked long about it, before I decided to go for it. I don't know the specifics, but you can look it over with the guys in Trenton, maybe with a lawyer and then decide. And you can change some stuff, until you like the details, so the contract suits you. Think about it! And all the high people were pretty impressed with you, so they were quite happy to maybe get you to work for them."

"Wow." It's one thing to have them tell you, they are proud of you. But when they are this confident that you can handle something as big as such a contract is amazing. I wasn't sure bout the Brass opinion yet, they always needed somebody to do their shit.

The Merry Men wanted to know about my training. It was Saturday and my evaluation for my job at RangeMan was already scheduled for Monday morning. They knew they had to compete with me and wanted to know what they were up against. Understandable.

Lester was the first to ask. "So how did she do? Whining a lot? Did you have to drag her out of bed to go running?"

"Well, she struggled a lot the first weeks, but after she had time to adapt to the new situation it was a lot easier for her. And she did really good. We took pictures when she first jumped out of a plane with Ranger and on some other occasions. But mainly we made videotapes. One of every eval and a few in between. I suggest you don't watch them until after you took her through her RangeMan eval. It will be a lot more fun this way. We made a tape when she got a cake after four months of training. You guys will all love it." Wow, sounds like TK is pretty proud of me.

Tim spoke up "And you should absolutely trust her instincts. Saved my life with this spidey sense of hers."

This picked the interest of the Merry Men and Bobby voiced their question. "How? What was going on?"

Tim knew I wouldn't answer so he answered himself. "We were diving and I got caught in a fishnet. We only had a few minutes air left, but I couldn't free myself. She somehow knew I was in trouble, came to me, cut me loose and we made our ascend. Last two minutes without air."

Tim's explanation caused a round of "Way to go, Bombshell.", "Proud of you, Dragon" and a squeeze from Ranger. Seems like they won't use Moxie that much.

Chris had to add his two cents. "She made one hell of a progress after she got used to the training. I wouldn't want to be on her bad side."

"And that's saying something" came in unison from the Merry Men. Sounds like they had witnessed what happens when you have Chris against you.

I was suddenly pretty tired. I wanted to go to bed, let Ranger do his exploration and then sleep for like two months or perhaps a little bit longer.

I leaned back into Ranger and whispered at him "Ranger, let's head upstairs. I'm pretty tired and you have some explorations to do. We wouldn't want it to get too late now, would we?" I threw him a suggestive smile and could feel his response poking in my back.

"Good idea." He stood us up and announced "We are heading up. Guys, you can talk as long as you would like."

"Daddy, why don't you come to the eval on Monday and you can watch the videos then. And we could have a look at the photos they took."

"Alright, I will be here. Good night."

I mumbled a "Night, guys." Ranger just nodded and led me to the elevator. We headed up to the apartment, me pressed against his front, kissing hard and demanding. By the time we had reached the seventh floor I was panting and so was Ranger. I was ready to loose some clothing and it seemed like Ranger would fully support this idea.

_I hope you enjoyed. Please let me know what you think._


	12. Chapter 11

_Thank you for all your wonderful reviews, ladies. Enjoy!_

**Chapter 11**

We were pressed hip to hip when we tumbled out of the elevator. I couldn't wait to loose some closing and get a Ranger- induced orgasm. It had been too long, for both of us.

I was tugging at his shirt to get it out of his pants before we even reached the door to his apartment, his hands already at my breasts, teasing my nipples through my clothing. He had problems opening the door but after some struggle he managed to open it up for us. I was only halfway in as he closed the door behind us and spun me around, pressing me back against the door. He was frantic, but so was I. His kisses were hot and demanding, passionate. Our hands were roaming and before I could blink he had zipped my pants open and had two fingers plunged inside me. I was moaning.

He groaned as he found how wet I was. "Babe, are you this wet for me?"

I couldn't answer, unable to form words besides my moaning. I was riding his fingers. I needed this orgasm and I could already feel it approaching. He thrusted his fingers inside me, brushing against my g-spot, circling my hard nub with his thumb. I was close and I could see his erection straining against the confines of his pants.

"Please, I need you inside me. NOW!"

"As you wish." Lightening quick he pulled his own pants down, then pulled my pants and panties down enough so he could thrust into me. I was close to my release, but so was Ranger. He thrust into me, hard. Once. Twice. He pressed his thumb down on my clit and I came hard, screaming his name as I bucked my hips against him. Mere seconds later I could feel him stiffening, his cum coating my inner walls as he screamed out my name in his own release, prolonging my orgasm.

My legs were wobbling, unable to support my weight, but Ranger's condition wasn't better, so we slid down the front door, coming to rest on the floor.

"I missed you, Babe." His voice was hoarse, as much affected as me.

"Missed you, too." I was working on controlling my breathing. I wasn't ready to talk yet.

As we were lying on the floor, he studied me. His gaze wandering down from my face over my breasts and down, until his eyes stopped at my Dragon tattoo. We were so frantic before, he hadn't noticed it yet. He reached out to touch it, inspecting it as he went.

"This one of your surprises?"

"Yeah, but there are some more."

"I remember you promised me I could explore later." He scooped me up and took me to the bedroom for the next round.

He deposited me gently on the bed and took his sweet time to strip me down. He started with my boots and found his first surprise. He stumbled over another set of throwing knives.

"Babe, how many knives have you hidden?" I just smiled mysteriously at him, encouraging him to go on. He tucked on the lace of the other boot and found the other knife and my backup piece. The two other guns were already deposited in the safe.

"So let me get this straight. You carry one knife, three guns and two sets of throwing knives. Anything else?" Well, ammunition didn't count, so I just shook my head.

"You are heavier armed than I am. And I could never handle this damn throwing knives." This surprised me. Batman can handle everything.

He must have seen the look of surprise cross my face, because he cradled me in his arms and murmured softly in my ear. "I'm not Batman, you know this. Solo, we have flaws, but as a team, we would be invincibly." I nodded at him, filled with pride and love.

"So, do you have any more surprises?"

"Keep looking, there's one more." I smiled suggestively at him.

He slowly kept his torture up while undressing me, stroking me as he went. Finally he had deposited of all my clothes and holsters, but he hadn't discovered the second ink yet. Apparently it didn't matter to him, because he started stroking and teasing me, kisses following his clever fingers. I just had an orgasm, but I needed more. Ranger had other things in mind.

"Lay on your stomach, please."

"What you gonna do?" I wanted sex, damn it.

"I thought a long the lines of a massage. Sounds good?" He knew I didn't do butt stuff and wasn't into Doggy style. I trusted him not to take advantage of me, so I lay down.

"Place your hands underneath your pillow and enjoy, Babe."

That was the moment when Ranger saw the second tattoo. It wasn't entire healed yet and still quite sensitive. He traced his finger along it, causing me to shudder.

"What does it mean? It's beautiful." He was whispering.

"It's Japanese, means 'tassei' and the translation is achievement. I got it two weeks prior to the mission. The first one got me an ugly infection, but this one healed just fine."

Ranger was fascinated with it, running with his fingertips along its lines.

"I like it, it suits you." He continued and I couldn't take much more.

"Ranger." my voice was husky. He was only touching my tattoo and had me in a state.

"Patience, Babe." I felt him straddle my butt and lean over to get something out of his nightstand. He surprised me by pouring massage oil on my back and I let out a squeak.

"Relax." I actually was pretty tense. I had been worried about the reactions of my loved ones who had just found out what I had been up to, but they all took it pretty well.

I melted into the mattress as he started loosening my tense muscles, his hands easily sliding over my oiled back. He started kneading my neck and I let out a soft moan. He progressed further down my back, paying close attention to my shoulders and arms. I never thought a massage could be erotic, but this one certainly was. He kneaded down my spine, going slowly and carefully, applying just enough pressure to loosen the muscles and arouse me, but never strong hard enough to hurt me. His lips were following his progress, pressing kisses to my skin, licking and nipping.

He could see the effect his massage had on me, I was moaning and writhing underneath him, hoping he would enter me and bring me to climax. I didn't mind having him enter me from behind right this moment, all that mattered was being joined with him again.

"Ranger, please." I wanted him bad.

"Not yet." But he had some compassion for me. One of his hands dipped down to my wet and aching center, while his other hand kept teasing my butt cheeks, kneading and stroking them. He stroked the fingers of his right hand over my wet mound, teasing my opening, but never actually entering me with his finger. Suddenly his fingers stroked against my clit, causing my hips to move back into him.

"Do you want this, Babe? I don't want you to do anything you don't want to do."

He was always so considerate, always respecting my decisions, never forcing me into anything I didn't want.

"Please. I want to try this." He lowered himself down onto me, supporting his weight on his elbows. He slowly pushed his hard cock against me, teasing me, until he slowly entered be, inch by agonizing inch. Finally he was fully embedded inside me. He gave me a few moments to adjust to his size and then started slowly moving, hitting my g-spot with every stroke, never leaving go of my clit. I couldn't hold in my moans, it felt just to good. Ranger was moving his hips in a slow figure eight pattern, building me to new highs.

"You okay Babe?"

"Mmmm." He chuckled softly into my ear, but I just wasn't able to form words, let alone whole sentences.

I could slowly feel the heat pooling in my belly, the tightening of my muscles, announcing my upcoming climax. I was torn between my feelings. On the one hand I didn't want this encounter to end, because it felt too damn good, on the other hand I wanted to reach climax so we could start again.

Ranger had started whispering Spanish in my ear what made me shiver. He didn't know yet that I fluently spoke Spanish, so he assumed he was safe.

"Te amo tanto esto duele. No puedo imaginar mi vida sin usted. Quiero que usted se quede conmigo para siempre." _("I love you so much it hurts. I can't imagine my life without you. I want you to stay with me forever.")_

"_Quiero quedarme com usted para siempre." ("I want to stay with you forever.")_

"¿Usted dice español?" _("You speak Spanish?")_

"_Si."_ ("Yes.")

Ranger was clearly surprised by this news. He knew that I had chosen Spanish as language to learn in training, but he didn't know how well I could actually speak his language now. All of the guys spoke Spanish, so soon we held the entire conversation in Spanish, which helps you with learning it a lot.

Before Ranger could say anything my else, my climax hid me hard, but unexpected and I groaned his name, the waves of exquisite pleasure rolling through me. My hips were bucking back against his, my inner muscles clenching him hard. Ranger had been close too, so my climax triggered his own release.

"Baaaaabe." His own climax had been hard, I could feel him growing inside me before his cum coated my walls.

We stayed like this for a few moments, totally contend and satisfied, neither of us wanting to move. Finally Ranger eased out of me and I whimpered at the loss.

"There will be more Babe, I promise. But how about we take a shower first? Together?"

"Sounds good." I dragged him to the shower, he just moved too slowly today.

Our shower led to another orgasm before we managed to get out, all squeaky clean and refreshed. We toweled off and settled down on the bed, embracing each other. We shared caresses and kisses, but in the main part we talked.

"So Babe, how did you get your inks?"

"The first one I got when they started calling me Dragon. I didn't know why back then, but it suited me. And since I kind of joined the army they decided I had to get a tattoo, because it was a tradition. We went to a parlor and I fell in love with this dragon, so I had the artist do it. It hurt like a bitch and an infection settled in, but with some time it healed pretty good."

"I really love this ink. It's just like you, dangerous and mysterious and very protective."

We were silent for a few moments, both enjoying the nearness of the other.

"So, what's it with the other one?"

"They told me why they thought Moxie would suit me and I agreed with them. I was proud of myself for the first time in quite forever. I can't remember when I had last felt like this before, like I could do anything. Probably when we made love before you left and maybe the night after DeChooch, but before this? I have no idea. I was so proud of what I had achieved, what I had made out of myself. I wanted a constant reminder, a visible reminder to remind me every day how hard it was, but that it had been worth it. I wanted to have something to show everybody to document how strong I had become."

Ranger had nodded sometimes during my little speech and smiled affectionately at me.

"I'm so proud of what you have become. You are stronger than anybody I have ever met. And I really love your inks. They accentuate the new, stronger Stephanie, the great woman you are. I love you so much."

He pulled me in for a light tender kiss with just a hint of tongue. There was nothing demanding in it, just a show of affection towards each other.

"I love you, too."

We kept holding each other, finally falling asleep entangled in each other.

My inner clock woke me at quarter to five, so I could go on my usual morning run. I couldn't go a day without it, so I got up and started getting dressed in running shorts and a sports bra after I had taken care of nature's call. When I emerged from the closet Ranger was propped up against the headboard, looking surprised at me.

"What are you up to? It's quite early."

"I was getting ready to go on my morning run. You gonna join me?"

"I could think of a better way to exercise." He threw me his infamous wolf grin. But I had learned how to control my hormones, at least temporary.

I tried very hard to keep my face straight. I enjoyed teasing him a little. "Maybe. Here's a deal. You join me for my run and then I will join you in the shower."

"You got yourself a deal." He only needed two minutes to get ready. We headed out to the elevator, when a wicked thought crossed my mind.

"How about we make your A- Team run with us? Drag them out of bed like they have me so many times?" He flashed me a grin, obviously enjoying the idea.

Ranger called down to the control room to determine if they had left their apartments yet. We discovered that the Merry men had talked with the guys in Mexico until something around two in the morning and the phone call had developed into a little party. The guys who had been off the clock had organized beer and Ella had provided snacks and pizza. Tank, Lester and Bobby had gotten a little too much alcohol, so they had dragged each other up to Tank's apartment and had crashed there. This would work to our advantage.

We exited the elevator on four, walking like cats, approaching our prey. We weren't making the slightest noise. Ranger opened the door to the apartment and I could see the guys sprawled on the floor and on the couch. I just grinned at Ranger, indicating that I wanted to wake them up.

"GET UP, SOLDIERS" I shouted in my best parade voice. The guys immediately jumped to attention, assuming the typical stance of a soldier. They were a little disoriented and didn't understand what was going on yet. Ranger and I were laughing off our asses, rolling on the floor. Clutching our stomachs. Their faces had been priceless. The expression of utter shock and confusion they wore. Apparently Ranger thought so, too. When the guys were finally fully awake the whole situation registered.

Tank was the first to voice his opinion. "What the hell are you fucking doing here? It's fucking five o'clock in the morning. Get the fuck out. And Bomber, what are you doing here. It's way too early for you to be up yet." The other two nodded their consensus to Tank's statement.

"Well, I always go for my run at five in the morning. And you three are going with us. End of discussion. We meet at the elevator in five, so start moving."

The guys scattered off, getting ready to exercise.

We met at the elevator to go down as we had decided to run in a nearby park. I just hoped Ranger had some firepower with him, because I had none and it made me feel uncomfortable. I wasn't used to going out unarmed anymore. Maybe using the treadmills would be better. I would think about this later.

Ranger smiled reassuringly at me, indicating he was armed. That made me feel better, because I trusted him to keep me safe. The guys just kept muttering to themselves under their breaths, but I didn't pay attention. I had entered my zone, as soon as we had left the building I was high alert, aware of everything going on around me.

I went on a pretty fast pace, but Ranger kept up effortlessly. The guys however had some trouble keeping the pace. After an hour we walked back to the building to do our cool down, followed by some stretches.

We went up to our apartment and the guys detoured to th control room before going to shower.

Our shower turned out to be very satisfying. I was afraid I would never get enough of this man. After an hour of lovemaking, we finally got to cleaning ourselves, before taking this party to the bedroom. We spent most of the day in bed, making love and dozing, only interrupted at noon by a wonderful lunch prepared by Ella. At 4.30 pm Ranger dragged me into the shower again.

"What's going on?" I was definitely curious. And I didn't want to stop making love with Ranger.

"Your mom invited us for dinner tonight so we are heading over. Next Sunday we might go to my family." My jaw had finally hid the floor. I was going to meet Ranger's family, get to know a little bit more about him.

The shower we took was actually only to clean up, no other business involved. At 5.30 we made our way down to the car. I was dressed in black cargoes and a tank. I needed to do some serious shopping. I only had the stuff from training, everything else was too big. Might be a good occasion to get all the girls together.

I wasn't armed that heavily. I had only two guns and a knife, same armory as Ranger.

We went down to the garage and Ranger chose the Porsche, we buckled in and went off to dinner with my family. Hungarian Inquisition here I come. This was gonna be nerve wracking.

_I hope you enjoyed it. Any suggestions and comments are welcome. Let me know what you think._


	13. Chapter 12

_Thank you for all your wonderful reviews. Enjoy!_

_Don't own them, don't make money._

**Chapter 12**

As soon as I had buckled in I had placed my hand on Ranger's thigh, seeking for his strength and support. He immediately placed his hand over mine, rubbing his thumb over my knuckles. _(Thanks, aussishy!) _

I was fretting. Sure, my mom had been pretty calm yesterday, but now she had had time to work up some disappointment over my sudden departure and my reserve before I left. She seemed okay with it yesterday, but with my mom you just never now. And I hoped Grandma Mazur wouldn't try to cop a feel.

"Babe, they are all proud of you. Calm down. Your mom announced her approval yesterday, so there's nothing to worry about."

"I guess I know that, but it is a new feeling for me not to be belittled by my mom. She never accepted how I lived my life before. It's new for me not to be accused of waisting my life."

"I think your mom can't really understand where you are coming from. You don't live the life she has imagined for you. And she was worried about your safety. When she has had time to adjust to the new Steph, she will stop worrying so much."

"She will never understand my choice of lifestyle, but you might be right with the safety."

"What do you think about letting your mom watch part of your eval tomorrow. She won't have to watch everything, but maybe the hand to hand and some other not so violent parts."

It was a great idea. It would give my mom some peace and she would hopefully never see the need to nag me again, which would give me some peace.

"I think it would be a great idea. When she sees how I kick your asses, she will be relieved and know that I can help myself."

Before he could comment on my tease, we pulled up at my parent's, behind the Kloughns' minivan. Damn.

I groaned "Would have been a new one if she hadn't had invited Val and her family as well." I didn't know whether Val knew that I was back yet. I just hoped she wouldn't start in on me before we were even inside. She would never understand me.

"Babe, come on." I never noticed when Ranger got out of the car and went around to help me out. I looked up to the house to see Grandma waiting for us at the porch. My mom was nowhere to be seen.

We went up to Grandma.

"Stephanie, you brought this great hunk Ranger with you. How nice, come on in."

"Hi Grandma."

"Mrs. Mazur, how nice to see you again." He was holding my hand as we walked into the house together. We were instantly engulfed by neighing by Mary Alice and her galopping and Lisa's screaming. Angie was setting the table and Kloughn stood in the doorway, clearly instructed to keep the girls at bay and he obviously wasn't up to this task.

Dad was sitting in front of the TV, the volume cranked up as high as possible.

"Grandma, where's Mom?"

"She is in the kitchen, trying to calm Val down. She has some problems with Albert."

We said hi to Dad and went into the kitchen.

"Hi Mom, Valerie." I didn't want to talk much.

"Mrs. Plum, Valerie, nice to meet you again. Thank you for inviting me for dinner."

Valerie started immediately in on me.

"Steph, how could you do this? You ran off to god knows where, never told anybody you were okay. Nobody knew what was going on!" She was fuming. I didn't know why, but she seemed to be determined to dump all her anger on me. The old Steph would have let it happen, but not the new, stronger me. She was in for a big surprise. I wouldn't allow her to steamroll over me.

"Well Valerie, I said bye to Mom and Dad. Dad knew where I was going and what I was up to. I went to get some training with the son of one of Dad's buddies. He knew I was okay. In fact I wrote him an e-mail every week."

Apparently this was news to Mom, too.

"What do you mean, your Dad knew the guy who trained you?"

"Mom, you remember Mo?" She nodded. "You remember TK, his son, as well?" She nodded again. "Well, he trained me."

My mom was dumbstruck. "What do you mean, TK trained you?"

"Mom, you heard me. I went to his facility, where he and a bunch of his guys trained me. He's a friend of Ranger and his guys."

"What do you mean? You went off to get some training to guys you didn't even know? You never knew what you got yourself into."

My mom stared at Val who clearly didn't get the point.

"Val, Dad knew where I was going. Besides, it's not your business. I got me some training." I could barely press it out through my clenched teeth.

Ranger sensed that it wouldn't take much more for me to strangle her. She had no idea what I had been going through. It sure as hell hadn't been a walk on the beach, as she seemed to think. Ranger came to my rescue, again. He had pulled me against him, what calmed me, but his words made me calm down as well.

"Valerie, I think you should think about what you are your sister accusing of. She went through hell to finish the training. You have no idea what she had to do, how much strength this cost, but in the long run also brought her. You should be proud of her, just like everyone else is. She went through basic, Seals and Rangers training. Do you have any idea what that means? In such a short time frame. She was only gone for a little longer than seven months and she achieved so much. What right do you have to insult her?" I squeezed his hand letting him know I'm grateful.

Apparently this was too much for Val. She stared at me and left, clearly shell shocked that anybody dared to say something against Saint Valerie. I think it was the first time in like forever that someone had stood up to her like this.

"Steph, I'm so glad you are back. I think it is a very good idea that you went off to get trained. I feel much better, now that I know you can handle yourself."

"Mom, that's what we wanted to talk you about. I'm going to work at RangeMan and I have my eval tomorrow morning. I was wondering whether you would like to come by and see how good I can handle myself. Dad is going to come as well."

"Oh dear, that is a great idea. But now let's get dinner on the table and don't worry about Val. She will get over it. She's just frustrated because they have some financial problems, because Albert doesn't have as much clients as he would need to properly support his family. And you go off, don't have kids and hook up with a great man with an own company."

We went to sit down for dinner, pot roast with mashed potatoes and green beans. Ranger and I weren't too happy with this food, it just wasn't what we usually ate. Of course, my mom picked up on it.

"Stephanie, you have to eat more."

"Mom, I eat enough. I just eat other stuff now. I'm not used to your meals anymore. The guys put me on a special, but very balanced and healthy diet to help me gain muscle and strength. I just eat healthier now."

Dinner passed with pleasant conversation and I had made sure to sit between Ranger and Grandma. I didn't want this dinner for him to be worse than it already was, and Grandma's groping would only add to the discomfort. Dad surprised all of us and talked to Ranger.

"Ranger, have the both of you looked over the contract yet?" Shit. I had totally forgotten about it. I was so engrossed in our lovemaking that I hadn't even remembered it, from the looks of it Ranger had forgotten as well. I couldn't read my mom's expression, but it wasn't a happy one. Something like curiosity and worry.

"No, Sir. But we are going to look over it tomorrow after Steph's eval. My attorney is going to be there. Would you like to be there as well?"

"I would really like that." Phew, Ranger had saved us. Admitting we had forgotten about it would have been really bad.

We finished dinner and mom brought out dessert, pineapple- upside- down cake. YUM.

"I made this cake for you, I know how much you like it, Steph."

I was really enthusiastic, I loved this cake. "Thanks, Mom."

Val had to add her opinion "Well, let's just hope she still eats cake. After all home cooked meals aren't good enough for her anymore."

I had had enough. "Val, just cut it. You are jealous of me, but I don't care about it. I'm me, but I will never be you. I couldn't life your live, just like you wouldn't survive my lifestyle. I want to enjoy my cake without your nagging."

Surprisingly enough her daughters had done pretty well during dinner, eating like proper little ladies and not talking. It was a relieve. I just needed to shut up Val and everything would be perfect. Even Grandma was to engrossed in Val nagging me to add her thoughts to the conversation. Thank God. One thing less to worry about.

"You eat cake?" She was mocking me, but I had learned to control my emotions and not let them show on my face. Ranger saw my blank face slamming down and asked silently if I was okay. He knew what the blank face meant, having used it more times than anyone can count. I was close to doing some real damage to her.

"Yes Val, I eat cake. In fact I love cake. I had cake twice since I left. Yesterday evening and after my eval after four months of training. You know how hard this had to be for me. Now let me enjoy my cake."

Val had finally shut up and Dad shot me a grateful look.

We made our departure as soon as possible and Grandma escorted us out.

"Steph, you have no idea what has been going on here. Val is in a mood, you don't want to be around her. She is all moody and unreasonable. I'm just grateful that you two are back, you can give her some contra."

We said bye and made our getaway. Ranger was tense on the drive home. Funny, I lived one day with Ranger and his apartment felt like home in a way my apartment or my parents' house never had.

"Ranger, what's wrong?" I intertwined our fingers.

He looked at me. "Is dinner at your parents' always like this?"

"Do you mean Val?" He just nodded.

"Today was easy. It was just Val nagging me. Before I went to Mexico my mom would nag and belittle me even more. The girls were very well behaved and even Grandma played nice. Dad usually doesn't talk at all. It was one of our better dinners."

He just looked at me in disbelieve. "This was one of the better dinners?"

"Yeah?" I didn't know were he was going with this.

"They put you through hell at least once a week?"

"Yeah. Now you know why I was so apprehensive about going there. I tried to avoid dinner as often as possible. Grandma and Dad usually were on my side, but they have no chance against Mom and Val."

"I certainly understand now, Babe. I'm so sorry that you had to cope with this at a regular basis. I had no idea." He looked truly sorry, but it wasn't his fault.

"Ranger you didn't tell them to nag me. It's okay. It wasn't that bad."

We pulled into the underground garage and went up to the comm center. It was too early to go to bed and I wanted to tease the guys a little. Woody and Ram were on monitor duty.

"Hey guys, any ideas where Tank, Lester and Bobby are?" Ranger just nodded at them.

"They should be in Tank's office. Were mumbling something about payback." Ram informed us.

I thanked him and we made our way silently to the office, hoping we could hear a little more about the payback. Unfortunately they were talking about business. Tank was the first to note our approaching.

"Hey guys, how was dinner?"

"Don't talk about it." Ranger still couldn't comprehend what he had just witnessed.

"That bad, Ranger?"

"You remember the conversation before we left?" They nodded. "Well, let's just say this was the understatement of the year. Her sister is even worse."

I didn't want to talk about it, so I pushed Ranger down on the couch and sat in his lap.

"So guys, you up to getting your ass kicked by a little girl?" They just grunted, well they hadn't seen me in action yet.

"Yeah, sure Bomber. We will see that when we are done with you tomorrow.

The guys went on to discuss one case or another and I dozed off in Ranger's lap, my favorite place in the world. He whispered in my ear "Ever done it on a desk?"

I leaned back into him, so the guys wouldn't catch my response. "No, and I don't think I'm up to trying it today. I'm kinda tired."

"Alright, we will try it another time, but what about a shower?" I nodded and he chuckled.

Bobby had seen our interaction and had a broad smile on his face. All of Ranger's men were happy for us.

"Let's head up, Babe. We can take a shower and see where this takes us, okay?"

I just nodded.

"Guys, we head up, has been a long and tiring day. Trying to get some sleep." He stood us up and made a move towards the door. The guys just looked disbelievingly at us. In perfect unison they answered. "Yeah, like you are going to sleep."

I just shrugged my shoulder and went off, Ranger following close behind. We made it up to the apartment in silence. Dinner at my parent's always wore me out. That day was no difference. We walked through to the bathroom and took turns undressing each other, combined with tender and loving caresses.

In the shower we took turns washing each other, stroking and arousing, which triggered another round of sex in the shower, before we finally went to bed. I was so exhausted, I fell asleep before my head had hid the pillow, dreaming of kicking some asses, anxious to show how strong I had become.

_I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Let me know what you think. Tips, suggestions and comments are very welcome._

_Whose ass should Steph kick. Let me know who you want to get some asskicking._


	14. Chapter 13

_Thank you for all your wonderful reviews, you keep me writing. Enjoy!_

**Chapter 13**

We got up at quarter to five, just like the day before, but we went to the gym to use the treadmills. I hadn't felt safe running in the park, call it paranoia, but I preferred the treadmills. At least for now. The gym was surprisingly empty, but Ranger told me most of the guys would come around 6 or a little later.

I just wanted to make my ten miles like usually, but Ranger started my eval. He had me wearing one of this things you wear under your breast wrapped around your body, to record my pulse. Needless to say he sat the treadmill at a pretty fast pace, but our runs in Mexico had been faster, so no problem there. He had me run my ten miles, watching me.

"How come you aren't running?"

"Enjoying the view." Guess he was right. I was wearing tiny short shorts and a sports bra, there just wasn't much left to the imagination.

I finished my run and wasn't even breathing hard nor had I broken a sweat, guess training is useful after all.

"What's the schedule today?"

"You already made the run. We will go upstairs and have a light breakfast. You won't have time to shower. Afterwards we will go to the gun range, where we will meet your parents. When we are finished there we head to the combat room for some exercises and sparring. You have time to shower and then we meet with your parents, my lawyer and a representative of the government for lunch. Your mom will leave after we discussed the contract, your dad stays. We have a surprise test afterwards prepared for you, but you will like it, I'm sure. That's the end of the eval. Leave your weapons in the safe, everything you will need today will be provided."

"Okay. I'm hungry."

We went up to the apartment where Ella had prepared us a healthy but delicious breakfast, Smoothies, bagels, cream cheese and fruits. We dug in and twenty minutes later we went to the gun range. I had thrown on a tank top as well, wouldn't want to give the guys too big a show.

Everyone who didn't have to be in the field or was assigned on monitor duty was assembled in the gun range, along with my parents. My dad looked content and happy, waiting to see how good TK and his crew had trained me. Mom had a somewhat uncertain expression on her face, like she wasn't sure she was okay with this new part of my life and what to expect.

In one lane they already laid out the guns they wanted me tho shoot. One of them a sniper rifle, along with various others. All of them looked familiar to me, so it was nothing I couldn't handle.

Ranger would be leading the eval, the others were just spectators, so he told me what he wanted me to do.

"Moxie, I want you to fire all the handguns, three clips each, at a distance of 50, 100 and 170 yards. The targets for the sniper will be set out at 100, 150 and 200 yards. You are to shoot them in the heart and between the eyes. Understand?" I nodded. "GO!"

I was comfortable with all of the guns, varying in handling and how much they backfire, but when you know how to use them, it's pretty easy. I went over to the lane and started with the task at hand, beginning with the smaller guns, working upwards to the sniper rifle, one of my favorites. I hit all targets at every distance dead center, and I was sure they were wondering how I made this. Well, they didn't know I went through sniper training. You just never know when you might need it.

All the guys, including my dad and Ranger were impressed with my shooting skills, but they didn't say anything. The results would be discussed the next day. One of the guys held a video camera, documenting the whole eval to see all the mistakes later on and to be able to ascertain the results. TK would get a copy of the tape. He was sure I would kick their butts and wanted to see it, along with the guys.

After a little over an hour and a half, I was finished with my shooting. I had entered my zone before I had started and was still highly concentrated. We went to the combat room, which I didn't know existed, on the third floor, my parents and the guys following closely behind.

"I want 100 push- ups, then you have five minutes to catch your breath, 100 sit- ups, another 5 minute break and 50 pull- ups. After this you have fifteen minutes and then we will begin with the sparring. I will stop the time and count for you. Get started."

This was also pretty easy, the guys had me normally doing at least twice this amount, most times even more. The pull- ups were a little harder, but nothing I couldn't manage. Ranger never told me the time, just counted and made some notes on the board he was carrying around. Ranger looked a little shocked, but I hadn't the time to think about it. He would tell me later.

After this little test to see what I could cope with, we finally came to my favorite part in training. Sparring. I couldn't wait to get started.

"Okay, first to go with is Hector, he is close to your height and weight, so he should be an even partner. Do whatever you think is necessary to get him to surrender. All the guys are wearing cups, so no worries."

My dad was grinning like crazy, guess he had talked to TK and knew how good I was. TK himself had received some serious butt kicking.

Hector and I went over to the mats, circling each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. I was pretty sure Ranger had told them not to hurt me, but I wanted to show off how good I had become. Hector launched the first attack, trying to bring me down to the mat to secure me on the floor. I dodged the attack without problems, whirled around threw him over my shoulder and before he could blink I had him in a tight choke-hold, giving him no way to move. Obviously he knew as well, because you could her a muffled "Surrender." coming from him. One down.

Next to spar with me was Lester. He had realized that I was better than they thought, but I only needed five minutes to get him down as well. Lester was good, sure, but I was better. I was faster and more flexible than all these bulky guys. And I was smaller than most of the RangeMen. It was easier for me to duck under the attacks, the guys were mostly immobile, counting on the fact that they would intimidate their opponent by size and strength. I had to be crafty and sneaky, but I had also the advantage of being underestimated.

Lester couldn't believe that I had won without much of an effort, just like this he was done, without even landing one good score. He was muttering under his breath, embarrassed that I had taken him down.

My dad was smiling broadly and so was my mom. I could see in their eyes how proud they were that I had finished the training and could now take down guys with years of training, one of them a former gang banger.

I looked up at Ranger, grinning like the cat who ate the canary "Okay, who is next? I want some competition here."

"I will sparr with you." The guys stared at him in disbelieve, they knew how good he was.

He came over to me and we began circling each other. Bobby had to control the match. We were matched pretty even, what he had in strength I had in sneakiness and flexibility. We threw and blocked punches and kicks. We were throwing each other around, rolling on the floor, but neither of us able to hold the other down long enough. Ten seconds being hold down and you lost the match.

The match had been going on for quite some time, when something else caught Ranger's attention and he was unaware for a moment. I didn't know what it was, but I seized a chance, determined to use it. I could grab his left arm, twisting it up behind him, so he had to go down on his knees, to avoid breaking the bone. I brought him down flat on the floor and twisted his other arm as well, pressing his face down into the mat.

I was counting down in my head. I wanted to win over Ranger, I just needed to. Before his ten seconds were up, Tank joined in in our little match. The ganged up on me, but I was still able to dodge their attacks and land some pretty good scores myself. It took them several minutes to immobilize me enough to win the match. When Bobby announced that the team 'Ranger/Tank' had won the last match, but Moxie had won the sparring against Ranger I started jumping around. I had finally done it. I was as good as Ranger, maybe better. I were doing my own little happy dance and the guys were laughing and clapping. I was the first time in a very long time to bring Ranger down and the noise level was deafening. Apparently the guys had been cheering and shooting tips the whole time, but I never heard them. There could have been a bomb going of and I would have never known it.

Lester pulled me into a hug and mock- whispered into my ear, loud enough that everyone could hear him. "You know, I don't feel quite so bad now, now that you brought Ranger down. I have never been able to do so, nor have a lot of other people."

My mom came over and engulfed me in a hug as well, practically pulling me away from Les. "I'm so proud of you Steph. I knew you would be good, but I had no idea you would be this good. You practically beat these men's behinds. I'm so proud of you." My dad nodded at me. He didn't need words to tell me he was proud of me.

Tank and Ranger were shaking there heads, unable to believe that I had taken down Ranger, the best there is.

Ranger came over and pulled me into his arms, kissing me senseless. When we came up for air to the whistling of everyone present he asked me "I told you that with the right training, you would be better than me. You didn't believe me. Do you believe me now?" I was staring wide eyed at him. I hadn't fully realized yet that I had beaten Ranger.

"Okay, let's go up so we can take a shower. Tank, please show Mr and Mrs Plum around. We will meet with them and the lawyer in conference room 3 in 90 minutes."

We went up and straight for the shower, lunch had to wait until the meeting. Fine with me. In the shower we took turns washing each other.

"You know, I never thought I would see the day when someone could take me down like you did earlier. Even Tank has a hard time taking me down, nor have others of my men ever managed it, only when they gang up or I'm hurt. But you showed me the weakness of my company. We aren't flexible enough. And we underestimated you big time. Thank you for this. I love you."

"Love you, too."

Our shower turned decidedly erotic when he kissed me with hunger and lust, devouring my mouth with his and I kissed him right back. After an hour we exited the shower to get dressed and ready.

"Ranger, what should I wear for the meeting?" He smiled at me, knowing that I would ask this question and probably was prepared for it.

"Have a look in your section of the closet. There should be a pantsuit I told Ella to buy. I had Ella made some changes so you can at least wear a part of your armory. Shoes should be beside it."

I went into the closet and found a beautiful dark brown pantsuit with cream pinstripes. Along with it went a silk blouse in a light blue, the color of my eyes. The shoes were to die for, a brown matching the suit with cream bows an them and a 3 inch heel. They were great. As usually, everything fitted just fine and I looked great. The suit outlined my figure, accenting on my assets. I went out to Ranger to see he had changed as well from his cargoes to a tailored black suit with a black silk shirt. He looked great.

"Babe, you look great."

"You don't look too bad yourself, you know." I was smiling at him and I had the typical afterglow going. Everybody who knew me would know what we had been up to as soon as they saw me, but I, for a change, didn't care. I was happy with Ranger and everybody could know this.

"Let's head down, we only have a few minutes left and you don't keep the government brasses waiting."

We headed down, arms around each other, clearly visible for the rest of the world that we belong together.

We arrived on the fifth floor where the offices and some smaller conference rooms were. Tank was waiting for us at the elevator.

"Boss, Bombshell, Mr. Damirez is already in the conference room, along with Dennis. The Plums are in the comm room, talking to the guys."

"I can only imagine how that could end. Dad is probably cool about it, asking about experience and background and stuff, but Mom? She could come up with embarrassing questions worse than Grandma's." I was terrified, my mom could embarrass me before I even started working here again.

"You got that right Bombshell, everyone who had the possibility fled the room and the rest pretends to be working really hard." He was grinning, clearly enjoying my discomfort.

"You said Damirez is here?" Ranger wanted to know.

"Yeah."

"Damn!"

"That's what I figured."

"Uh, guys, I don't want to interrupt or anything, but what's it with this guy?"

Ranger explained after he made some signal in Tank's direction. "Well, basically, he is an ass and it will be even worse because you are female, you aren't bulky and you didn't enlist like everyone else has to get such a contract."

"Can I punch him?"

"Not before the contract is signed, but you can give him some piece of your mind." I was a little worried about this guy, but with Ranger there we should be able to show him where his place is. Stupid desk jockeys. At that moment Tank came back with my parents.

"Let's go and get this contract straight. And I'm hungry." Ranger chuckled, I could feel the vibrations running through his body. My parents just grinned.

"Yeah, and Ella prepared lunch. There should be some dessert for you."

"That's why I love Ella."

My mom was confused, well she had never heard of Ella before. "Who's Ella?"

Ranger answered her. "She's my housekeeper. She cooks, cleans, does the laundry, so my men and I don't have to worry about it. You will like what she prepared, I'm sure."

My mom nodded and off we went to meet Mr Damirez and get something to eat. Hopefully this guy wasn't as bad as everybody seemed to think.

We entered the conference room and Dennis, RangeMan's very own lawyer walked over to us, greeting us. He seemed to be a nice guy, attractive like all the other Merry Men although I had never met him before.

"Hey Ranger. And you must be Stephanie. Nice to meet you." He shook my hand.

"Please call me Steph or Moxie. It's nice to meet you, too. This are my parents, Frank and Ellen Plum." I gestured to them and Dennis walked over to shake hands with them as well.

Mr Damirez had looked up at the mentioning of Moxie. He had been slouching in a chair, looking like the world belonged to him and everyone else was just some guy he needed to rule the world. Ass.

"You want to be Moxie?" He stared at me in disbelieve and condescension, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "You skinny girl want to play with the big ones? You have no idea what you would be getting into."

Ranger took this as his cue to cut right in.

"You think I'm the best. Right?" Damirez nodded. "Well, let me assure you. She is even better."

_I hope you enjoyed. Let me know what you think, make some suggestions, give me advice? Please._


	15. Chapter 14

_Thanks to all my reviewers. You make my day._

_Enjoy!_

**Chapter 14**

Damirez' jaw hit the floor. "You can't be serious about this. Normally I would trust your statement, but in this case? She's just some piece of ass, look at her. How could she possibly take someone even slightly bigger than her down? Let alone shoot a gun? You want this girl to have a contract like yours because you are banging here. There is no possibility she might actually be qualified for a job like this. I can't detect the tiniest bit muscle on her."

I stared at this guy in disbelieve. "You are saying you are here, because somebody called in a favor and you had no idea what you were dealing with or some superior told you to haul your ass to RangeMan, Trenton?"

"I heard about Moxie, but you could never be this person." My dad just shook his head, he had seen my performance.

"Mr Damirez, you seem to be concerned about your image. I had a RangeMan eval this morning which was recorded on video tape. We could watch this tape or we could do the eval again under your supervision."

"That's a great idea, but I wouldn't want to embarrass you." His false concern was only angering me even more.

"I suggest we go down to the combat room and you can try to take me down, then we go to the..."

Before I had finished my sentence Damirez had launched himself at me, hoping to catch me by surprise and unaware. I had anticipated his attack and was ready for it, eager to bring it on. I simply sidestepped him and he sailed past me, barely staying on his feet. I evaded two more attacks until I had enough. He came after me again, but this time I was ready to take him down. I caught his outstretched arm and twisted it, limiting his movements. he struggled to get free, but with a nice hip throw I had him down, knife firmly hold to his throat, preventing any movement or he would cut himself.

"Do you think you could believe now that I am very be capable of doing this job?" My voice was deadly calm and menacing, inspiring fear. Damirez apparently got the message.

The guy looked a little pale when I helped him up. My clothes were still sitting perfectly, nothing disheveled you could never guess that I had taken some one down. Damirez however looked a little worse for the wear. You should never anger a burg girl. You won't know what is coming your way.

Damirez wasn't entirely convinced. "Alright Ms Plum, you have taken me down, but I am not in the field anymore, I'm not that big of an opponent."

"What I was going to say, let's head to the combat room and the gun range. Afterwards we could watch the tape made this morning." He nodded and off we went.

"Ranger, I can't fight in this clothes." I was a little worried, because I loved the pant suit Ella had chosen for me and didn't want to ruin it the first day.

"Don't worry Babe. There's a locker room with a change of clothes for each of us. You okay with combats and tank?"

"Are there other undies?" Ranger just nodded, but raised one eyebrow in questioning. "Silk and lace aren't the best choice for stuff like this."

We went to change, while Damirez, Dennis and my parents went into the combat room where Tank was waiting.

Ranger and I changed together, foregoing the shoes. It's much more fun to do the kicking without heavy boots. Sure, you have to be careful so you don't hurt yourself, but when you know how to hold your leg there should be no problem. We had decided to tape our hands to avoid sore hands. That was important especially for me as Ranger is solid rock hard muscle all over, but my body wasn't as soft as it once had been, too. Better safe than sorry.

"Babe, are you okay with this?"

"Yeah. I don't like him. Doesn't know anything and thinks he is invincible. He deserved some ass kicking but I didn't want to hurt him too bad." I was grinning up at him.

"I could see this. Let's get started." He pulled me into him for a last, quick kiss and we went out to start sparring.

"Ms Plum, I want you to take Mr Manoso down and immobilize him."

We began circling each other, just like we had a little over two hours before. I wasn't the least bit worried. Even if I couldn't take him down, I would give him a serious competition. Hopefully Damirez would see that I was the girl for this job.

The match went on for over an hour before Damirez finally announced he had seen enough. Son of a bitch.

"Alright, thank you, I think I get it." Our match had been even. We had been tossing each other around, blowing punches and dodging attacks, but neither of us could get the upper hand to win. We went over to him, waiting what he wanted to see next, both breathing a little harder and I was clearly flushed. We had given each other a serious workout. Tank was just smiling at us.

"I would like to see some things at the shooting range."

Tank took the others in the elevator, while Ranger and I went to the staircase.

"Babe, you did very well, you know this?"

I just nodded, he didn't need to tell how good I was to know it. I was self-confident enough to be sure of myself. New feeling for me.

"Yeah, I just wished he would have believed us. I'm hungry and this ass is keeping me from Ella's lunch."

Ranger chuckled, but my stomach choose this moment to growl loudly, announcing just how hungry I was.

"I'm pretty sure he won't give you too hard a time in the gun range. He already saw how good you are."

"He could have made this easier for all of us by watching the tape. Stupid brasses, don't know what's good for them." With a last kiss we met up with the rest of the group and Damirez spoke up.

"I want to see a sniper and a hand gun of your choosing, one clip each, 100 yards."

I went to work and soon was finished. I didn't waste any time and went over to Damirez looking expectantly at him. "Can we have lunch now and discuss the results later? I'm hungry."

Damirez looked dumbfounded and the rest of my support system chuckled. "Hey, I had breakfast at 6am, it's after 2pm now. What do you think?"

Ranger chose to answer me and at the same time backed up my request. "I think she's right. It has been a hard day so far, and Ella has lunch waiting for us."

Damirez nodded numbly, pissed that I was a lot better than he had thought. We went back to the conference room where Ella had lunch prepared, grilled chicken and vegetables with rice combined with a delectable lemon sauce. As usual, Ella's cooking was delicious and I couldn't hold in my moans. Tank, Dennis and Damirez looked pained, unsure how to react. Ranger was smiling at me, my parents threw each other glances, unsure of my behavior.

Lunch passed with pleasant conversation, nobody said a word about my moans or the reason for this meeting, we were just enjoying Ella's cooking. When we were finished Ella came back to collect the dishes and brought dessert with her.

"Stephanie, dear, I made you chocolate cake. I'm sure you will like it." She smiled at me, happy that I loved her food so much.

"Thank you, Ella." Ranger nodded at her. Knowing him, I would get to enjoy his piece of cake as well.

And I enjoyed the cake. Ranger decided he wanted to feed me, so he pulled me to him. I ended up straddling his lap, the plate with cake between us. Each bite of cake was followed with a kiss. I was moaning, the rest of the world no longer on my mind. I craved for Ranger's touch, the feeling of his hands on my bare skin. My kisses became more urgent by the second, my moans louder and I would have dragged Ranger happily to the floor to have my wicked way with him in the conference room, but Tank deemed it necessary to clear his throat, bringing us back from our happy place to the present.

"Maybe we should get down to business."

Ranger agreed. "Mr Damirez would you outline the contract, please." He said it with a please, but it was clearly an order.

Damirez went to collect his briefcase and pulled out the contract, placing copies in front of my parents and Dennis.

"This is the contract we would like to offer you. We would call you in whenever we need you, but as you are a female you will never be allowed to do a solo mission. We would either send you in with a partner or a team, where you have to go depends on the mission. We would like you to go through another special training camp, to add some essential knowledge to the stuff you already learned. The contract is valid for three years, after that time you have the possibility to extend the contract. You can refuse a mission only when there is a very, very important reason which prevents you to go. The rest is written down, please read the contract properly."

We read the contract and I was okay with most of the conditions, but not every one.

"Ranger, what do you think about it?" Before he could give me an answer Damirez' cell started ringing. With an "Excuse me," he left the room to answer the call.

"I agree with most of it, but you have to decide it. Dennis what do you think?"

"I would advise you to try to get him to agree that you can end the contract whenever you see the need to and that you can refuse a mission when you have a bad feeling about it. And you should state that you won't do executions and demand Ranger as your partner, so when he isn't able to go, you won't go. Tell him you will only accept a mission when Ranger goes as well."

"That's what I thought, too. Babe, you have to negotiate it with him, you have to demand the adjustment. It's your contract, you have to fulfill it, so you should be comfortable with the conditions."

My mom didn't look too comfortable, but she had wanted to be here, so she had to suck it up now. We weren't even talking about details.

Damirez came back in, looking flabbergasted but with a new respect towards me. "Tell me how you want the contract and I will draw it up."

"What?" I wasn't sure I had heard him correctly. I had no idea who had called him, but it seemed like this person had more power than him and a better opinion of me.

"You heard me. We will form the contract to your likings."

Ranger demanded to know "Who called you?"

"A very high superior. Told me I had to get you to sign this contract no matter what. And we wouldn't need to watch the tape of the eval."

"You know, we could have just watched the tape. Would have made things a lot easier, without starving me."

We told him which changes we wanted in the contract and he kept nodding.

"Good ideas. I will draw it up and send you a copy to look it over again and clear it with your lawyer, but to actually sign it you have to come to DC. We will discuss the training arrangements once you signed. Mr Manoso, your contract needs to be extended, so we will coordinate the date to keep you as little away from your business as possible." Where are the aliens who took Damirez? Ranger nodded at him, indicating to go on.

"We will contact you to set a date for the signing."

Everybody stood up and Damirez went around, shaking hands and finally left. I turned to Ranger. "What the hell just happened?"

Ranger was smiling broadly at me. "He wasn't fond of the idea of you working for them, but seems like someone in a higher position than him is very fond of the idea, so he kicked Damirez' ass via the phone. Proud of you. You didn't blow up in his face and you would have had every right to do so. You handled the whole day like a pro." He kissed me until my mom cleared her voice. Damn, she can never let me enjoy something good.

"Steph, I need to get going. Your grandma has an appointment at the beauty parlor and I can't let her go on her own." She came over hugged me, told me she was proud of me and left. Phew.

Tank addressed Dennis. "So what are you doing? You coming with us or staying here?"

"I think I will stay here, I choose a desk over this battles every chance I get. I have one question though. Steph, why did you ask me to call you Steph or Moxie? Everyone else calls you Bomber or Bombshell."

I had to cringe at that thought. "I don't like the nicknames the Merry Men gave me that much. It always reminds me of my bad car karma." This was all he was going to get, so I turned my attention towards Ranger.

"Ranger, you said something about another test this morning that would take place after the meeting. What is it and when are we getting started. I want a shower soon."

Tank answered for him. "When we talked to TK he told us how much you loved the battles you used to have on Sundays, so we thought it would be nice to have one here. Training for us and you can show off. We have a warehouse just outside of Trenton and it's already prepared. We only leave a skeleton crew here, the rest is coming with us. They can page us if there's an emergency, cause we are only 40 minutes out."

I nodded, anticipating the battle. I loved this kind of thing. Then it occurred to me that my dad was still there. "What about my dad?"

"That's his decision. Mr Plum you can stay here and watch via the surveillance equipment or you can come with us and participate. We will only use paintball guns and you will get all the protective gear we can come up with if you decide to come with us. It's your decision, you are welcome to play with us, but we also will also accept if you want to stay here."

My dad nodded, looking thoughtful, then broke out in a smile that threatened to split his face. "I will come with you. Has been a long time since I got to play like this. But please don't tell Ellen. She will have my head when she gets to know I'm participating in stuff like this. Let's get going."

We arranged to meet on the garage in twenty minutes, so we would have time to add to our clothing. I was still barefoot, thanks to Mr Damirez who had no idea who he was dealing with. Ranger was barefoot as well. I hadn't even noted it when we went to the gun range, I was totally focused on my goal so everything else lost in importance and finally slipped from my mind. Concentration in it's highest possible form.

I put on heavy boots and socks and changed into a long sleeved shirt, so the bruises wouldn't be as bad. I don't bruise easily, but when I get one, they usually hurt like a bitch.

"Ranger? How much weapons are appropriate?"

"Two guns and a knife, Babe." I had to grin at this. Mr-I'm-not-family-material had me wearing the same weapons as him. Hopefully I could convince him to the rest of the package, but only time would tell. At least he couldn't send me away anymore because his life and past might be too dangerous for me. I was about to make my own enemies, so that was hardly an argument anymore, more like a poor, lame excuse. We would have to wait to see where fate would take us and go with it.

_Let me know what you think, especially advice or suggestions please. Press the button and make my day. _


	16. Chapter 15

_Thanks for your wonderful reviews. This chapter may be considered slightly angsty._

_Don't own them, don't make money, just playing._

**Chapter 15**

We were on our way down to the garage when Ranger's pager went of.

"Fuck, security breach at an important client. 911 page went to the whole team. We have to reschedule the eval."

By the time he had finished his explanation we were on our way to the storage room on the fifth floor to suit up.

"Babe, you can stay here with your dad and the guys who have to man the monitors or you can come with us. Your choice, but you have to follow orders strictly."

He knew how hard following orders had always been for me, but I had worked on this issue, too. "I will come with, that's what I was training for. We can tell dad, so he can go home. He doesn't have to wait here and I don't want to take him to the location."

"Alright, let's get you dressed. We have a briefing in five."

Dressing meaning Kevlar vest and full armory, as well as two-way communication consisting of throat mic and ear piece. Ranger had me also wearing a full utility belt with cuffs and stun gun, as well as a pretty big can of pepper spray. Last items I got were a panic button, pager and RangeMan cell.

"Numbers are already programmed."

I had my own locker and miraculously there was all off my stuff stored, but I was sure that my weapons were upstairs.

"Ranger, what's it with the weapons?"

"Everybody has his own locker with a duplicate of the weapons the person normally uses. One set is stored here, one set at the persons apartment. Saves time in cases like this."

We went to the conference room where everyone was already assembled, already dressed and ready for action. Tank was the one to brief us.

"At 15.37 was a security breach reported at Bottoni's, the jewelry shop. Five perps, hostages, number unknown. PD is alarmed but was asked to let us handle it. Moxie, Cal, Lester and Sam take the snipers with you. We need to get moving. GO!"

Everyone took the stairs down and piled into the cars. I was with Ranger and his A- team, sitting in the back between Lester and Bobby. It's a tight fit on normal days, but in full armor and with vests it's even worse.

"My dad?"

"Already talked to him, Moxie." Tank seemed to be in charge, but everyone was tense. It wasn't only the security breech, but the additional hostages which we knew nothing about were the problem.

"Do we know anything about the number of hostages yet?" Ranger wanted to know.

"Woody and Vince are working on it. We know that there were four costumers, one of them a pregnant woman, but we have no idea how many employees were in the building."

"How did they get in?"

"Cut off the electricity. Caused problem with the server, so the doors won't open. I have Hector working on it."

The rest of the drive was made in silence, everyone preparing for the task at hand. Get the hostages out unharmed, do what is necessary to the perps. We all knew that this outcome was unlikely, as hostage situations tend to escalate in a matter of minutes.

We all were dreading the arrival at the site, but we knew we had to go. I was nervous, as it was the first time I had to show that I was capable of working with this team in such an important op.

We made it to the site in 13 minutes, nothing in my life had ever felt longer, well maybe when we waited for word on Ranger's condition after Scrog shot him. We parked two blocks down from the building, not wanting to alert the kidnappers of our presence. All together there were around 30 guys in RangeMan uniforms, but I didn't know all of them. It seemed that everyone knew what to do, with who to partner, where to go. I had no idea, I didn't even know that RangeMan provided the security for this shop. Ranger seemed to sense that I had no idea what to do.

"Babe, you stick with me, follow my lead, watch my back. Let your instincts take over, you will know what to do" I was grateful for his support as it calmed my nerves remarkably.

We surrounded the building, securing every entrance. Hector had managed to get the doors to open and we knew that there were four sales clerks and two office workers with the four customers in the building. I had no idea who and how, but somebody located the group in the bosses office on the third floor. I didn't like this piece of info. We got the massage when we already were in place, but this meant we had to change our plans. Third floor was also the top floor, so we had some guys suit up to go in through the windows. Problem was that this could endanger the hostages further, but this was the only possibility. Tank had phoned them and they told him they had a bomb set to blow up in a little less then 16 minutes. They had somehow discovered an underground tunnel to escape. The purpose was to show the world that RangeMan isn't infallibly. The perps were stupid enough to tell Tank about the tunnels and Ranger knew the tunnel system, so they were secured as well. We had to get the hostages out before the bomb went off or we had to deactivate the bomb.

"Tank, where is Slice?"

"Sick leave."

"Fuck. Why is the only bomb expert I have on staff ill when we need him?" Ranger was pissed, which was understandable.

"Ranger, I can do it. Get someone to help me find it and I will deactivate it."

"But Babe, you can't.."

I didn't let him finish. "Ranger, I can! Because of my bomb history they saw the need to make me quite an expert."

"Okay. Hal and Sam are with you."

We waited till we got the affirmative from the guys on the roof.

Ranger did the countdown. "3-2-1 GO!"

Everyone stormed into the building, scattering, securing the rooms. I didn't go with Ranger in the end, because he was to rescue the hostages with the rest of his core team. I thought about where they might have hidden the bomb. They wanted the hostages to die, but to escape safely themselves. That left the second and third floor, but I was pretty sure I would find it on the third.

"Sam, you search the second floor, Hal we search the third." After a few minutes I heard Hal over my ear piece.

"Moxie, I got it, but I have no idea what to do."

"Where are you?"

"Restroom next to the room with the hostages."

I had no idea what had been going on while we had been looking for the bomb, but I had never heard Sam say a word. Weird.

I went over to Hal to inspect the bomb, it was fairly big, would have made a nice hole in the wall and definitely killed the hostages. Fortunately it was easy to disable, pretty old model and easy to build. We had eight minutes left. It only took me a minute and a half to disarm the bomb.

"Ranger, we are clear."

"10-4. Everyone in position?" The guys grunted affirmatives. I was standing behind Ranger, Tank next to me. Lester and Bobby were on the roof, ready to come in through the windows. It was a bad situation as we had no idea what we would find.

On Ranger's command we went in, simultaneously the guys came flying through the windows. The perps had no idea we were even there, which gave us a few seconds head start. The perps were confused, but not confused enough for us to bring them down without guns blazing.

As soon as they realized what was going on, they fired at us, not at the hostages, but I was torn between being happy that they didn't harm the hostages and the fear that someone of us would get hurt. We started firing back, but nobody fired to kill, only to immobilize. In a matter of seconds they went down, but I could see the strain forming on Lester's left arm and he seemed to be breathing harder. Ranger was standing in front of me as I caught the reflection of sunlight. One of the capturers was still moving, his gun pointed at Ranger's head, his finger ready to pull the trigger. The next seconds were only a blur. I remember screaming "NOOOOO!!" and throwing myself at Ranger, bringing him down. While flying I must have pulled my own gun and shot the guy in the head, bringing him down immediately.

I was lying on Ranger when I noticed the blood pooling under his head, that was when I started to panic. I didn't even notice that I was hurt myself. I was screaming in my mic.

"We need an ambulance, Ranger and Lester are down! HURRY!" The thought of the capturers had completely left my mind, the only thing important was getting Ranger well. I sat up to apply pressure on the wound when I noticed his leg was bleeding, too. I had no idea when he had gotten in the line of these bullets.

"Tank, help me." He came over and out of the corner of my eye I could see Bobby tend to Lester. This reminded me that I had bandages in my cargoes which I used to at last lessen the blood flow on his leg a little bit. Apparently Tank had asked for additional EMTs for the perps, because seconds later the room was swarmed by them. Somewhere between their arrival and the shoot down some of the guys had come in and cleared the hostages out. I was now fighting my panic a little better. I knew I couldn't give in. I had to help Ranger first, then I could break down.

Tank brought me out of my reverie as the EMTs arrived. "Moxie, step aside. Let them do their job." He came over and pulled me into his arms, making room for the EMTs. They tended to him, bandaging his wounds as good as it was going to get.

"Does anyone know his blood group?" I had no idea and again it was Tank who came to the rescue. "AB negative."

"Okay, we have him stabilized for now. We are taking them to St. Francis."

I didn't want to leave Ranger alone, so I had to ask "Can I go with?"

One of them nodded, so I clutched Ranger's hand and they wheeled him out to the waiting ambulance. I never let go of his hand. I had the feeling that if I let go, he would go, never coming back. Ranger drifted in and out of consciousness and I held up a constant stream of sweet nothings, trying to reassure him as much as myself.

I didn't remember the ride over to the hospital, but suddenly we were in the emergency room, the ambulance with Lester in it only a few seconds behind us.

A nurse came over to me. "Ms Plum, we need to take him right into surgery. Please wait here. I will come out to talk to you as soon as possible."

I was left behind, staring at the doors they had wheeled him through. My knees were buckling, I couldn't hold myself up anymore. I would have crashed to the floor, but Tank was there to catch me. He picked me up and took me over to the chairs where the rest of RangeMan was waiting. The whole waiting room was a sea of black, all heavily armed and still in Kevlar vests. We looked like terrorists.

Tank had positioned me in his lap, knowing I needed his silent support. I was shaking uncontrollably, unable to hold my hands still, because they were shaking so badly.

A nurse positioned herself in front of me. "Ms Plum, we need you to sign this forms."

"Huh?" I had no idea what she was talking about.

"You are Mr Manoso's next of kin and in his absence you hold the medical power of attorney for all his employees!"

"Tank?"

"Just sign it, it's alright." This was something I would have to think about later.

"What's wrong with them?" I asked the nurse, hoping she could give me at least a little bit of information.

"Mr Manoso caught two bullets in his right thigh which ripped a good chunk of muscle out. They are working on it as we speak. The gash at his head needs only stitches, but also got him a concussion. Mr Santos caught a bullet in his left upper arm. The bullet nicked an artery and he caught some bullets in his vest which cracked two rips. They had both quite some blood loss, but they will be just fine."

That was all I needed to hear. I finally allowed myself to break down. The stress of the whole day finally caught up with me. I started crying, dissolving into sobs and shaking even harder. It was just all too much.

When I looked up, Bobby was crouched in front of me. "Shh, Beautiful, calm down. Drink this, it will help you." He was holding a glass of water and some pills in his hand and he patted my upper arm.

"Ouch," I cried out in agony.

"What's wrong?" He looked very concerned.

"That hurt like a bitch." I was whining, so sue me. The man I loved was in surgery and I hurt, too. That was the first time I even noticed it.

"Let me have a look at it." Bobby turned my arm that way and this. "Shit, Steph, you got shot, too. It's not a big deal, but you need stitches or it will get you an ugly scar.

He scooped me up in his arms and carried me over to the nurses desk, explaining the problem. They immediately took me back to stitch me up.

"Bobby, come with me. I don't want to be alone." He carried me into a cubicle and a few minutes later a doctor appeared. He injected a local anesthetic and stitched me up. I was still shaking, so Bobby took me back to the waiting room and I took the pills he offered me.

"What's this?"

"Light sedative, it will help you."

I trusted his statement and took the pills. Tank settled me in on his lap again and the next thing I knew a surgeon in scrubs was standing in front of me, smiling reassuringly.

"They both pulled through nicely. We have Mr Santos in a sling. He will be in some pain because of his rips, but he will be just fine. We will keep him for tow to three days for observation. Mr Manoso's leg needed some careful tending, but he will be fine, too. He will have to use clutches for a few weeks, but he will make a full recovery, maybe some physiotherapy to help the progress. He is on bed rest for at least a week, preferably longer, depending on his progress. Because of the high blood loss they both suffered we got them a transfusion each. We get them situated at the moment, but then you can go and sit with them, they share a room. I will send a nurse down to get you as soon as they are ready for visitors."

I stood and shook his hand. "Thank you, doc." He nodded and off he went.

I left out a breath I didn't know I had been holding and for the first time since we had entered the building to rescue the hostages I could breath again.

Tank was issuing orders, arranging guards and making sure there was someone manning the monitors. "Ram, Hal, I want you two on the first shift. Vince and Hector second. I will send everyone a mail with the roster.

That was when the nurse appeared. "Ms Plum, you can go up now. Third floor, room 325."

Tank took my hand and pulled me to the elevators. The relief we all felt was clearly visible in the whole group and everyone except Ram, Hal, Bobby, Tank and I left. Everybody had been afraid for them, anxious to hear that they would be both okay.

When we entered the room they were both sleeping off the anesthetic. A moment later a doc entered the room. "They should come around in the next hour. You can sit with them. There will be a nurse in every two hours to wake Mr Manoso up, due to his concussion." I nodded and the doctor left us to ourselves. Tank placed me in a chair next to Ranger's head and I immediately grasped his hand in mine. Ram and Hal had taken up their position outside the door so I could let my guard down.

"Tank, do we need to call his family?"

"Bad idea. When he asks me to call them I will do so, but unless he asks I won't call them. They aren't too fond of his lifestyle and even less of injuries that come with it. I don't want the extra trouble they would bring right now."

"What about Les?"

"No family to call here."

That was okay with me. I preferred to meet Ranger's family when he was up and running, not on bed rest.

"How long have they been in surgery?" I had no recollection to this time frame. I had been totally out of it, burning off the adrenaline and an added sedative will do this to you.

"Lester was in about an hour, so he should come around pretty soon. Ranger was in a little more than two hours, so it may take him a while to wake up."

That was good enough for me and I concentrated on caressing Ranger's face again, tracing his eyebrows with my finger and waiting for him to wake up.

_I hope you enjoyed. Let me know what you think._


	17. Chapter 16

_Thank you to all my reviewers, my pc didn't allow me to thank you personally, but your reviews were appreciated just as much._

_Enjoy!_

**Chapter 16**

The first one to wake up was Lester. He was a little bit disoriented, but I knew that this was a common occurrence after being shot at and knocked out. I was happy that he was okay, but I really needed Ranger to wake up.

"Ranger. Please wake up. I love you." I was constantly whispering into his ear, waiting for him to show a reaction. After a little while he stirred. You could see him struggle to open his eyes, but finally he succeeded.

"Babe." His voice was a hoarse whisper.

"Shh, it's okay." I hold the cup with water for him so he could take a few sips to calm his throat.

"What happened?"

"What do you remember?"

"Security breach at Bottini's. You disarmed the bomb. Hostages. But why am I here?"

"The hostages are all fine. A little scared but unharmed. After I had disabled the bomb we went into the room with the perps and the hostages. The perps opened fire which we returned. One of them was down, but wanted to shot you dead center. I think you didn't see it because you had already caught two bullets in your thigh."

Tank saw the need to continue. "She tackled you down, shot on the way the perp dead center and caught a bullet herself. You got a nasty gash on your head and a concussion in the progress. Lester is down with two broken rips and a bullet wound upper arm."

"Babe, are you okay?"

"Yeah, just needed a band aid." That was a joke between us, had he once offered me a band aid for a gunshot wound, but it caused him to smile.

"Babe. What about the bullets to my thigh?"

"You will be fine. You both will make a full recovery. Lester has got his arm in a sling for a few weeks and has two broken rips and they sorted your thigh. You had some serious muscle damage, but the bone was unaffected. You will have to use crutches for a few weeks and you should get physiotherapy. But there will be no problems, just another scar. And some of your rips are bruised. Your vest caught another bullet."

"Thanks Babe." I could tell he was getting sleepy again and it was a struggle for him to keep his eyes open.

"Sleep Ranger, I will stay here." He nodded and was off to lala- land.

Tank sensed that I was still a little shaken about the day's activities. "Moxie, we are all proud of you. You handled the whole day like a pro. You had to go through the eval two times because of Damirez and than you handled the breach so well. You saved the hostages' lives you know? Without you we would have had no chance. We have no idea how to disarm a bomb like this. We can all deal with the cute little ones everyone can build, but as soon as they are a little bigger or a little bit more complicated we are at a loss. And you handled the situation with the perps really well. Ranger was distracted because he was hurt, but you stayed alert and saved his life. Without you we wouldn't be here now. And I know how hard it was for you to keep going when you saw that Ranger was injured. Weaker people would have broken down, but you kept going. You are so much stronger than most people, Moxie. We all are really proud of you." Who in his right mind calls bombs cute?

"Thanks Tank, that means a lot to me. What about the police? Do we have to expect any trouble?"

"No worries. I talked to Eddie while you were sleeping. He wants you to come to the station tomorrow to give your statement, but it's only a formality. They already ruled it defense of a third party."

I nodded and laid my head on the hospital bed, next to our joined hands. I was out like a light.

When I came to Ranger was caressing my hair with his fingers, tracing comforting patterns on my head. He was talking to Tank, but I was only able to make out bits and pieces, my brain was still too fuzzy. Bobby joined occasionally in, but Lester seemed to be sleeping.

"...part of the A-team..."

"...that's what I'm thinking..."

"...damn time..."

"...better than me..." At this point I drifted off again.

When I came to again I could smell coffee and I could see sunlight streaming through the blinds. My neck was stiff, but I was pretty comfortable. Somehow during the night I had ended up laying beside Ranger on the small bed. He was still sleeping, his breathing was slow and steady, but Tank was looming over me, grinning like a fool.

"Time to wake up. I had one of the guys bring us breakfast. But don't move or you will wake him up."

I took a look around. Lester was sitting up in his bed, although I was sure the doctor said he was supposed to be flat on his back, but these ex-special- forces guys just didn't give a damn about it. Bobby could lecture him later, but at that moment he sat in a pretty uncomfortable looking chair, his neck at a weird angle and sleeping. Tank was holding a brown bag. That was weird, because the bakeries I knew had always had white bags with some printing on it.

I raised an questioning eyebrow at Tank, yes I had finally learned how to do that.

"Ella prepared breakfast. Nobody wants the scrap they try to feed you in places like this. And I'm pretty sure Ranger wouldn't appreciate donuts for breakfast, so I thought Ella would be a good compromise." I nodded my approval and Tank handed me an already prepared bagel with cream cheese, lox and some kind of green stuff on it.

"Coffee?"

"Yeah, Ella brought it, too. I tested the coffee they serve in the cafeteria here. Disgusting is a nice way to describe it." I had to grin at this. Health nuts beyond reasoning, but can't go without proper coffee. Go figure.

"Don't worry Bombshell, there were enough times when we had to go without coffee, and this weren't nice times." Lester nodded at this. I had nearly forgotten he was in the room with us. This was unusual, because normally you had a hard time stopping his jokes to bring a straight sentence in.

"Can you tell me about it?" I wanted to know about these guys' pasts, but I knew that a lot of the things they had done were considered confidential, so they weren't allowed to talk to anyone about it.

"Yeah, there are some things we can tell you, but it's not that much. Let's wait for Bobby and Ranger to rejoin us before we start with our little fairy tale hour." That was okay with me. I was content with just laying in Ranger's arms, being happy that he would be alright. I couldn't bear to loose him, now that we had finally gotten our heads out of our asses and were together.

I had breakfast and then Tank brought me back to reality.

"Bombshell, maybe you should go take a shower and change your clothes. You are still wearing the stuff you had on yesterday." Tank suggested. I hadn't even noticed it, but when I looked down my front I could see what he meant. I had Ranger's blood all over on my clothes, even in my hair when I had tried to prevent it from falling in my eyes. Tank was right, I was a mess. He gestured towards a duffel sitting beside the door.

"I had Ella pack you a bag. There should be everything in it you might need."

"Thanks."

I went to clean up. The guys had organized that we could use the shower in an unoccupied room. The nurses knew us, so it wasn't a problem. I took a shower and changed into sweats and a t-shirt, but reattached part of my armory. The rest went into the duffel.

When I came back I realized that the guys had cleaned up as well sometime during the night. I was grateful that they had let me sleep, I would probably have drowned if I had taken a shower during the night.

Ranger and Bobby were still sleeping, so I decided to address the nickname issue. "Guys, why do you call me only sometimes Moxie?"

Lester decided to answer. "We call you Moxie when we are working, when we are proud of you and to show you the respect you deserve. You are Bombshell or Bomber to us in private, when we can let our guard down and we want to tease you. But we never mean it derogatory. You know the double meaning of Bombshell and to you both meanings apply."

"Wow." These guys seriously cared about me.

"You okay with being called Bombshell?" Tank wanted to know.

"Yeah, I understand it now. I just hate being the entertainment."

"How did you get the impression that you were only entertainment to us?" Tank was the one asking now, Lester seemed also interested.

"That's a question you have to ask Ranger, but it goes back to the Slayer incident." They nodded and the issue was considered closed.

After a few moments Bobby and Ranger decided to rejoin us. I could feel Ranger stirring before he opened his eyes, so I leaned over to brush my lips against his.

"Ranger. Open your eyes." I was whispering against his lips and he smiled at me, then opened his eyes.

"Morning Babe." His voice was roughened by sleep, his eyes still slightly cloudy.

"Feel better?"

"Yeah, when can I leave?" That caused me to chuckle. We are a lot alike. We just hated hospitals, everyone at RangeMan did. I thought it came with the reason. When you are at the hospital one of your relatives or friends is usually hurt or even worse. And that was what I considered RangeMan. My friends and family. I trusted them all with my life, had repeatedly before, even if I didn't know them. Ranger trusted them, so I trusted them. And time would show that they trusted me with their life, too.

"You have to stay here a few more days, because of your concussion and they want to make sure that you don't catch an infection in your leg."

He was grumpy, but knew he could do nothing about it. Lester was whining too. "When can I go home?"

"Tomorrow, day after tomorrow the latest." This caused Lester to smile, but not as brightly as usual.

I was concerned about the both of them. "Do you guys need anything, pain meds or stuff?"

"Babe, calm down. We are fine. What about breakfast?"

"Ella brought breakfast. Bagels and coffee."

Bobby was relieved too. "Thank God we don't have to eat hospital food. I swear they try to make you even more ill." We all nodded at this statement, as we all had experienced it before.

Tank spoke up. "There's a slight change in plans. Instead of going to the station the cops are coming to us to take our statements."

"Do we know anything yet?"

Tank was the one to provide the news. "Yeah, and it's so not good. We have no idea how they knew about the tunnel system. Even the owner didn't know about it. Nobody knows it, but RangeMan."

"Shit!" We muttered collective. That meant at least one guy had double crossed Ranger. Not something you should do when you plan on living.

"Do you know more about it?"

"We are already running searches about possible connections between the abductors and our personnel, but I have them run in Miami. Didn't know if I could take the chance of letting someone from this office doing it."

Ranger's face was set in an angry mask. He hated it to be double crossed and there would be hell to pay for this guy. Not only from the guys, but he would get a piece of my mind, too. Whatever had driven him had caused Ranger and Lester to get hurt and that was unacceptable. He would learn the hard way that you don't anger Moxie.

"Okay."

Bobby and Ranger had breakfast and a few minutes later Joe and Robin Russel walked in. Joe didn't look too happy to see me sitting on Ranger's bed holding his hand.

"Morning Cupcake, RangeMen." What's this greeting? Highly unusual. Robin just nodded.

"Morning Joe, I prefer Moxie, you know?"

"Alright. We are here to take your statements."

We told them the story and for the most part they didn't interrupt us, but when Morelli heard that I had deactivated the bomb it was too much for him.

"What do you mean Cupcake? You have deactivated the bomb?"

"You remember I told you I was going to get training? And did you see me around the last seven month after I came by to break us of?"

"Yeah I remember."

"Well, that's what I have been doing since you last saw me. I went through extensive training and I'm able to keep myself save now." I could see he wanted to start an Italian argument, but I wouldn't let him.

"Why do I have to hear from the guys at the station that you are back? Why didn't you tell me? I never heard from you while you were gone."

I had left Ranger's bed, facing Morelli, ready to jab my finger stiffly into his chest.

"Joe. Calm down. We are over! I came back on Saturday, it's Tuesday now, so shut the fuck up. I was out of the country to get my training and I graduated as the best trainee they ever had."

Tank muttered under his breath "Could have told us before the eval."

I had heard him, so I addressed Tank. "I could have told you, but what would have been the fun of it? TK knew why he told you to watch the tapes after the eval and not before. You would all have known what to expect and my biggest advantages would have been out of the window. Nobody would have underestimated me after watching the tape." That got me the mumbled affirmative of the RangeMen and I just smiled broadly at them.

"What are you talking about being underestimated, Cupcake. Everybody knows that you are not capable of doing your job properly."

That was enough for Ranger "Did you listen to what she told you? She went through extensive military training in a little more than six months. She took ME down. Little bit of advise. Don't get on her shit list, you will wish you had never said anything against her. And now you should focus back on more important things, like the hostage situation. And you don't talk bad about Moxie." This was apparently the first time my nickname registered in his fury clouded brain, because his eyes widened slightly. Guess he had heard of me.

We continued to give our statements and Joe and Robin left.

"What's the deal with Joe? Didn't he date anyone while I was away?" That brought evil smirks to all the men's faces, but Bobby answered my question.

"Oh yeah, he made his relationship with Terri Gilman official, but he wasn't aware that Terri had several relationships beside him. She met with one of her other partners at Joe's house while he was on assignment. They were going at it in his bedroom, when he came home one week earlier than expected. He walked in on them. Terri told him to suck it up, because it wasn't her fault he didn't satisfy her." That threw all of us into laughing fits, until Lester and Ranger begged us to stop laughing. Their rips were killing them.

Bobby and Tank made to leave, they had to take care of business, but I preferred to stay with Ranger and Lester.

"Tank, can you organize a laptop with all the search programs for me? I would like to stay here and watch over them, but I could run the searches here. Than the Miami offices doesn't have to do it."

"I will send someone over with all the information we got and a laptop." They nodded and were off. Ranger looked grateful that I would stay with him, as well as Lester.

After an hour Ram appeared with a briefcase. "Delivery for Moxie." I went over and started the searches. It didn't take long for my spidey sense to start tingling.

_Hope you enjoyed. Let me now what you think. Any suggestion on how to go from here?_


	18. Chapter 17

_Thank you for your encouraging reviews._

_Don't own them, don't make money._

**Chapter 17**

Ranger was watching me closely. "Babe?"

"I don't think you are going to like this." I really hated to tell him that one of his men had betrayed him.

"Who?"

"One of the abductors is Sam's brother."

"Shit." Ranger and Lester muttered simultaneously.

"Yeah, that about sums it up. Who did the research for him before you hired him?"

"Why?"

"His records aren't exactly clean, far from it to be honest."

"But I saw the print outs of the searches." Ranger was exasperated. He was calmer than I had expected, but that wasn't necessarily a good sign. Deadly calm would be a lot worse for the guys than angry Ranger. Throw me into the mix and they would never know what hit them.

"Sorry, but it's not that hard to doctor them a little bit."

"Shit. Lester do you remember who did the search?"

"Must be one of the new guys." He thought about it and then seemed to remember something. You could practically see the light bulb switch on. "We had this so called research specialist when we considered hiring Sam. His searches were worse than mine, so you fired him even before his trial period ended. I can't remember his name, but give me a moment and I can tell you."

We sat in silence while Lester tried to remember the name. "Tomas Gordez."

"Shit. Are you serious?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"Yeah. Why?"

"That's the guy who caught my bullet."

"Fuck. Problem is we don't know whether there might be more people involved than we know yet."

"I'm already working on it. I'm running searches on the complete staff in Trenton to check on connections with our five abductors. I should have something later today." The guys nodded, they didn't like it, just like me, but we all knew that there was nothing we could do to fasten the searches.

"Call Tank and update him. Tell him team meeting here 2000 hours. Only him and Bobby."

"Okay. Guys, you should rest a little. There's nothing you can do." I hadn't spoken the whole sentence before the light snoring told me that Lester had dozed off.

"Babe, come lay down with me. You have to wait too."

"Yeah, just let me make my phone call and take care of business."

I called Tank to give him the update and he swore rather impressively, like you would expect from a sailor. Tank had Sam immediately in a holding cell at RangeMan. There was no chance for him to alert possible accomplices and the rest of the staff thought he had called in ill. One threat down.

I went to the bathroom and crawled into bed with Ranger. We snuggled up to each other like we always did when we actually slept. I awoke around noon when a nurse came into the room to check on the patients. Ranger was still sleeping, so I got up to have a look at the searches which were finished by now.

"Anything new?" Seemed like I had woken Ranger, although I had tried very hard not to move him.

"Seems like there are no further connections to RangeMan staff. I will get the confirmation out of Sam later."

"Thought so. You okay with roughen him up a bit?"

"I would love to. Whatever reason he had caused you two to get hurt, so he won't get away with it."

"Proud of you, Babe." This caused me to smile, like every time he told me how proud he is of me.

"Are you guys okay for a while?" I asked while I was saving the searches on a stick to print them later.

"Yeah. What's on your mind?"

"I was thinking about going home to take a shower and then visit the girls at the office for lunch and go to my mom. She left me countless messages on my phone. I have no idea how she got that number."

"Sounds good, but could you send somebody over with lunch for us?"

"Sure."

"Your mom had the number to your cell because I gave it to her. It's a secure phone and I gave your mom a secure one as well, so you won't have to worry about anybody listening in on your conversations. I didn't give her your pager number, though."

"Thanks. What do you guys want for lunch." Ranger just shrugged his shoulders. Seemed like I had to ask Lester.

"Lester!" It came out a little louder than I thought it would, but he was sleeping too much anyway.

"Yeah?" He was grumpy, understandable, but that didn't faze me.

"What do you want for lunch?"

"Lunch?"

"Lester, come on. You are worse than me. Get your brains in some semblance of order and tell me what you want to eat. It's time for lunch, you slept the whole morning since Tank and Bobby left."

"Oh. Ranger, what do you want?"

"Lester, I asked you!"

"Oh, okay. Can you organize pizza or something like this?"

"Yeah, I will see what I can do. Ranger, salad?" He just nodded. Good, that was settled than.

"I'll try to be back as soon as possible. Lester don't hit on the nurses. Don't smile at them, heaven knows what that will cause them to do."

"Don't worry Beautiful. We have you as our personal nurse."

"Yeah, and I won't hesitate to confine you to bed for another two weeks when you don't act like Bobby and I tell you."

Ranger crooked his finger in the traditional come- here gesture. I sauntered over to his bed, bending down, so he could whisper in my ear. "Are you going to dress up for me? You know, these little white skirts and stockings are a real turn on for me."

"Ranger!" I was exasperated. He was hurt, restricted from all physical activity for several weeks, courtesy of his ribs and all he can think about is sex. He only chuckled at me and I made my departure after I had gotten a last kiss.

Woody and Cal were on guard duty.

"Hey Moxie, here are the keys for the Cayenne. Tank dropped it of so you would me independent."

"Thanks guys." These guys just think about everything, never missing the tiniest detail.

On the way to Haywood I phoned ahead to let Ella know what the guys would like for lunch. She promised me to have it ready in an hour. That would let me enough time to shower and talk to Tank.

I arrived at RangeMan, but before I went up to the seventh floor I mad a stop at the fifth floor where I found Binkie.

"Hey, do you know where Tank is?"

"Should be in his office."

"Thanks." I went to Tank's office where I found him, reading some reports.

"Tank, can you print me the searches on this stick. I want to take a shower and when I come down we can talk about it. I already ordered lunch for Ranger and Lester."

"Sure."

"Is my duffel upstairs?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Holds my assembled armory."

"Everything in it is yours?" I just nodded, wondering what was so special about it. Tank's eyes widened in surprise. "That's way more than we usually carry."

"I know. And that's what I carried when we left the airport."

Tank was just shaking his head. "I never saw that you were carrying that much. I knew you where heavily armed but I had no idea how heavily. I ever saw only one gun. Go on up now. We will talk later."

On the way up I gave Lula a call.

"Hey Lula."

Lula just grunted. Seemed like she had had a bad day so far.

"Bad day?"

"You have no idea."

"You guys up for lunch? What should I bring?"

"Connie wants Cluck in a Bucket."

"Alright. I will be there in approx an hour and a half. Will you survive this long?"

"Yeah. But hurry."

"Later."

While on the phone I had made my way up to the apartment and stripped on the way to the shower. I took my shower at lightening speed and managed to dress in jeans, tank top and leather jacket and primp myself in half an hour. New record for me. I stashed my weapons on me, foregoing the throwing knives attached to my forearms and went back down to the control room to check on Rex. Binkie was manning the monitors. I acknowledged him with a nod and made my way into Tank's office.

"Moxie."

"Tank."

"Good work. I have Sam in a holding cell and the four other guys will go from the hospital in our custody for questioning later today. Juniak already gave his okay. Wanted to give you a head start. Morelli wasn't too happy when he heard it.

"I can imagine."

"You want to be here for the questioning?"

"I want to do the questioning!"

"Okay. I read the reports. Seems like there shouldn't be anyone else."

"Yeah. Can you update Bobby? Ella should have lunch ready by now. I'm going to deliver lunch to the hospital and then have lunch with the girls at the office. If I have enough time I will head over to my parents as well."

"Okay. Just don't forget the meeting."

"There's a new duffel bag upstairs. Can you bring it with you tonight?"

"Yeah. You staying again?"

"Yup. He would do the same for me. But you and Bobby should probably head back after the meeting." I grabbed two copies of the search results for Lester and Ranger to read.

He nodded and I was off, on my way to Ella to collect lunch. Ella had everything ready for me. She just told me to tell the guys her love and sent me on my way.

I drove back to the hospital to deliver lunch. Ella had been so considerate to not only prepare something for Ranger and Lester, but had given me a second bag with lunch for the guards, too. You just have to love Ella. I gave Ranger the bag, kissed him, told him I love him and was on the run again. On my way to the office I went through the Cluck in a Bucket drive thru and bought enough to feed a small army. For me I had a salad and some not so greasy chicken. No sense in sweating your ass off for half a year and then letting it all go to hell with old unhealthy mannerisms.

When I arrived at the office Morelli's Jeep was parked out front. I pulled up beside him and made my way into the office.

"Hey girls, Joe."

"Cupcake."

The girls were staring curiously at me, waiting to see how I would handle Morelli.

"Joe, what's the reason for you being here?"

"I wanted to talk. Thought it was the best place to catch you."

I distributed the lunch and plopped down on the couch. I was hungry.

"Then talk."

"Can't you come outside with me?"

"No, I can't. I came here to have lunch with my friends, not to have a screaming match with you. We can as well talk here, so we will actual talk and not kill each other."

"Okay. What's it with you and being Moxie. I heard about this person being on some mission, but that can't be you. You are nowhere near as skilled as this person is supposed to be."

He annoyed me. Why couldn't he have a little bit faith in me? "You want a demonstration that I am Moxie?"

He nodded, sure that I would embarrass myself.

"First step, talk to a Merry Men. They won't tell you details about the mission I was on, because you don't have the clearance for that kind of classified information, but they will confirm you that I indeed are Moxie. If that isn't enough I would happily demonstrate my skills. On you. But before you do this, talk to Lester. I am sure he can give you some tips."

"Morelli you better believe her. It took my man Tank and Ranger to get her down on the mat long enough for them to win."

With that we ignored him, hoping he would get the hint and disappear.

"Lula, how do you know about that match?"

"Tank told me."

That was enough for me and we ate in silence. Highly unusual when you are in Lula's company.

"Lula, what's going on?" Connie looked funny, but I had no idea what she wanted to tell me.

"I have no idea. I don't feel so good lately."

"Maybe you are coming down with something?"

"I have no idea. Guess I will head home and take a nap."

We wished her well and she departed.

"Connie, you have any idea what's going on with her?"

"I suspect she might either be pregnant or she has serious cramps. I have no idea what would be better. And she had an ugly run in with a skip this morning. Got covered in food."

Shit, that reminded me that I had unprotected sex with Ranger. After Ranger left Mexico I had stopped taking the pill. No sense in taking them when there's nobody around you might need them for. My period was due the next day, so that shouldn't be a problem, but I needed to talk to Ranger about it. I didn't want condoms, but I wanted to make the decision with Ranger. I didn't want to get pregnant just then. With Morelli we had always used condoms. I just didn't trust him enough not to bring anything home with him, but I trusted Ranger completely. I knew he wasn't sleeping around.

"I need to get going Connie. See you later."

The confrontation with Morelli had tired me out, so I decided to head to the hospital for some quality cuddle time with Ranger and leave the visit at my parent's for another day.

I went directly into the guys' room, not bothering to knock. The doctor was in on his daily rounds, checking up on his patients.

"Miss Plum. I need to ask you to leave while I do the examinations."

They threw the doc a sharp look and a "She stays," in unison and I was allowed to stay.

"Mr Santos, you can go home tomorrow. You shouldn't be alone at night, due to your broken ribs and the medication you are on, but there should be no problems. You know the drill with broken ribs."

"What about Ranger?" I had to know, I wanted to have him in the apartment, not in a hospital with non existent security.

"I would like to keep him at least another three days."

"Why?"

"He needs observation around the clock, provided by medically skilled personnel, based on his concussion and the gunshot wounds in his leg."

"Any other reasons?"

"No."

"Prepare his release papers together with the papers for Mr Santos. I will take both of them home tomorrow."

"But you can't..."

I didn't let him finish his sentence. "I can."

"But you aren't trained to handle injuries like this. A first aid course isn't enough."

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm a trained medic, as well as a colleague of mine. We will take care of them."

The doc nodded and left, peace at last.

"Babe, why are you already here? Didn't you want to go to your parents?"

"Yeah. That was the original plan. Had a run-in with Morelli at the office, he was still mulling over that I am Moxie." That caused both of them to chuckle and then to groan.

"I can only imagine." That from Lester.

"Yeah, Les. Prepare yourself for some questions from him. I told him to talk to the Merry Men about it and gave him the advise to ask you for tips to take me down. And I rubbed into his face that I have higher clearance than he has." That was all said with an evil grin.

"Proud of you, Babe. No come here, so I can take a nap."

Lester was already dozing off, this guy was way worse than me.

I snuggled up to Ranger and kissed him and than whispered to him. "There's something we should talk about."

He just raised his eyebrow, looking wary.

"Shh, don't worry. I just realized that I'm not on any kind of birth control. Don't worry, I can't be pregnant, because I will get my period tomorrow."

"Okay." Seemed like he didn't know where I was going with my speech.

"I don't want to use condoms forever."

"Works for me. What do you think about getting back onto the pill."

"Okay with me. I just wanted to talk with you about it, because it concerns you too."

He nodded, gave me a last kiss and we lay there in silence, just snuggling. That was something I had never experienced with Joe. We always slept on our respective sides of the bed, only meeting in the middle to have sex. Sleeping with Ranger was a whole new experience. We were in constant contact. He either spooned me from behind or I ended up on top of him. I must have fallen asleep at some point, because when I woke up Bobby and Tank were already there, holding dinner.

We ate and I repeated the information we had. Tank told Ranger and Lester that we had all suspects in custody, waiting for whirl wind Moxie to happen. They wouldn't know what hit them.

I spent the night at the hospital, carefully curled up to Ranger as to not to bother his ribs. The next morning we were provided with Ella's delicious breakfast and the guys were discharged. Lester was confined to his bed for another four days, Ranger for a week. That would be funny. Not. When we left the hospital I already knew that that week wouldn't be one of the nicer ones. Damn. On the way home we stopped at a pharmacy to get the descriptions for pain medication.

We got the guys settled. Bobby would look after Lester. They would share Lester's apartment for the time being. I had Ranger to look after. We had decided to hold the abductors until Ranger was up. He wouldn't be able to do the actual questioning, but he wanted to be present. Understandable. The five guys had another week to prepare, but they wouldn't know what hit them.

_Tell me what you think, please._


	19. Chapter 18

_Thanks to all my reviewers. _

_Please excuse any typos, I wasn't at my best tonight. :)_

**Chapter 18**

The week while waiting for Ranger and Lester to regain their health was stressful. We had to cover their jobs as well, so I went back to bounty hunting for the time being, although I now brought Ranger's skips in.

Wednesday was the worst. I went to the office to pick up the files for all the skips. Lula was bringing in the low- bond- skips and I had everyone with a higher than 100.000$ bond. Seemed like her cramps came from a stomach bug, so there were no problems anymore. She had had a panic attack when it occurred to her that she might be pregnant. We gossiped for a while and then we went off, each of us to catch the scum of Trenton. My partner for the day was Brett. After we had settled that he was to call me Moxie and not Ms Plum he was fun to work with. We had borrowed a Bronco, so we would have enough space for skips.

The first skip we went after was one Harriet Fudaley, twice my weight and several inches larger than me. He had been arrested for armed assault and attempted rape. But that wasn't the first time, so we had to be careful as he knew the drill. I was wearing my heavy utility belt, showing force to intimidate him and my vest. It never hurts to be too careful. The address listed in his file wasn't existent so we had to track him down. We finally found him in the house of his girlfriend, the girl he had tried to rape. How stupid can one single person be? She lived there with her two kids. I would never let a guy like Fudaley near my kids, let alone let him live in the same house with him. We had good Intel that he was alone. The girl was working and the kids were at school, perfect opportunity.

We had told Tank where we going and who we were going to pick up, so that he would be able to send back up should we need it. We drove over to his house in a not so nice neighborhood and parked two houses down. Brett took the back door and I went in the front door. We were wired for communication. That was something I had learned to live during my training. Being in constant contact you could help each other better. You can coordinate your moves and you are able to provide help a lot easier. I planned on making that a normality for RangeMan. It's not that expensive, but it can save lives.

I went up to the door and could hear the TV, Fudaley laying in front of it, surrounded by countless empty beer bottles and it was only 9am. I knocked, but as expected Fudaley didn't open the door. I was debating to just kick the door open or to pick the lock, but considering that there was a family living there I picked the lock. Less stress with the cops,too. What I hadn't seen through the window was that he was armed with a shotgun and some other not so enjoyable paraphernalia. I was wearing my vest, but that wouldn't make it any less painful. I went in and told Brett to follow me in, it never hurts to have your back up near by. I had Fudaley almost in cuffs when he noticed us and wanted to pick up a fight. I was to fast and good for him, so he didn't stand a chance. We had him cuffed and shackled in no time and secured him in the car.

We were on our way to the cop shop, Fudaley was screeching in the back, when I spotted two police cars tailing me. I warned Brett and pulled over. Let them have their fun. The cops came to a stop behind me and I could see who had stopped us. Officer Picky and Morelli. Great. I was prepared for this check. I had all the registration papers in the glove department, as well as Brett's and our permissions to carry concealed and the papers that allowed us to bring Fudaley in.

Morelli walked up to my side, while Picky took Brett. I had lowered the window, knowing what was to come.

"Ms Plum, your license and registration, please." I handed him the papers he asked for, withholding the carry concealed permission and the guns' registrations. He looked them over, but wasn't satisfied. They wanted to nail something, anything on us, just for the fun of it.

"I need to ask you to step out of your car." I did as I was told, knowing that he would frisk me for weapons. He didn't do a good job with it. He only found two guns, showed me how good he really was.

"Ms Plum, do you have permission to carry concealed?"

"You can find the papers on the driver's seat. I already took them out."

Morelli walked over to my car to collect the papers and exchanged words with Picky. I just hoped Brett wouldn't have any problems. We had enough to do, we didn't need another man down. Morelli came back to me, clearly pissed. What he didn't know was that my comm system was still open, so the whole conversation was recorded and everyone in the control room could hear us. I had no problem with it, but Morelli might get some because of it.

"Ms Plum, who is this guy in the back of your car?"

"Mr Fudaley, arrested for armed assault and attempted rape. The apprehension papers are in the stack you are holding."

"What the fuck, Cupcake? How many of Manoso's thugs did you have with you to make this apprehension? You could never have done this with only one goon. Look at you, you are skinny, no way could you have brought him down." He was fuming, unable to realize that he was embarrassing himself.

"Officer Morelli, I advise you to stay professional here."

"Don't choose this trip. Cupcake you are incapable of doing this job. This guy is huge, he is twice your size." It was pretty hard to keep my tone polite, but he would bring me in with only the slightest reason, nothing I needed. I just wanted to bring Fudaley to the station, get my receipt and go to Ranger.

"Officer Morelli. I am capable of doing my job. I believe you didn't understand what I told you the day before yesterday, but let me repeat it. I went through the whole special forces training, The government knows me as Moxie and I would be delighted to show you in a safe environment just how good I am."

"You can't be serious. You want to be humiliated in front of all your so called friends?"

"I would like you to proposition a place and a date. I only have one restriction. We have to wait until Ranger is up on his feet again, because I'm sure he wouldn't want to miss this. As for a place, maybe there's a big room with mats at the police department we could use? It should be big enough to hold nearly the entire RangeMan staff as they stand totally behind me and maybe you would like to invite some of your fiends of the police?"

"I will give you a call. But how the fuck did you get a permission to carry concealed for the whole US? There are only a few people who have this permission."

"I told you, the government knows me and I have highest clearance."

"How many guys did you fuck to get this permission?"

"None. Is there anything else, Officer?"

"No, you can go."

Brett's frisking hadn't nearly taken as much time as mine had and our skip was getting restless, thanks to Morelli. Brett had heard the whole conversation over his ear piece. He had mumbled the whole time "Stay calm, Moxie." It helped me a lot.

We settled back into the car to finally deliver Fudaley to the cop shop.

"Proud of you, Moxie. I would have blown a casket after a few sentences. How did you stay so calm?"

"Well, first, I know that Morelli can be a pain in the ass, always has been. Second I knew that he would arrest me if he found the tiniest reason, and third, fuming back at him only makes it worse."

Our skip was getting annoying, he was screaming about brutality and that we weren't authorized to take him in.

"Shut up, or I will stun you." That did it, he finally shut up. Seemed like I could be scary, too.

My mom called me to ask if I wanted to come over for lunch, so I checked in with Ranger, he was still sleeping, Bobby answered the call. He was cared for, so I asked Brett if he wanted to come with me, he accepted the offer and I told me mom we would be there.

At the cop shop all my cop friends were waiting for us, one of them immediately grabbed the skip to get him processed.

"Steph!"

"Nope, Moxie."

"You are Moxie?" Everyone was staring at me in utter disbelieve.

"Yeah Eddie, what's the big deal about it. Everybody asks this question."

"Could be because you have quite a reputation. We got order from very high to treat Moxie the same as Ranger, but nobody knew who it was. Meaning you are practically untouchable." That explained the bad mood Morelli was in. He had always hated the possibilities Ranger had, and now the same aspects applied to me.

"What?" I was sure if I had heard him right.

"Yeah, that's what they said. You were to be treated with the utmost respect and supported in any business you might have in Trenton." Carl added.

"Wow."

"Yeah. You up for Pino's tonight? We wanted to celebrate that you are back, heard it from Morelli."

"I would really like to celebrate with you guys, but can we wait until Ranger is back to 100 percent? I would like him to be there as well, and maybe we could all go to a club or something."

"Sure." Someone handed me my body receipt and we were on our way. I made a short stop at the bonds office, telling Connie to mail the check to RangeMan. Lula was out skip tracing and I told her that my mom was expecting us for lunch. We made plans for a girls' night out, but we would have to talk about it again with Lula and Mary Lou.

I drove us over to my parents' house to find Val standing on the porch. I couldn't help but groan.

"Okay Brett. That's my sister Val and she's a major pain in the ass. She thinks her self defense moves are better than mine, she signed up for self defense classes recently. Just try to not let her get you alone and ignore her when she gets rude. When she's here there are probably my nieces as well. The oldest one is Angie. She knows everything and is like my mom and sister. The younger one is Mary Alice, she's a lot like me, much to the dismay of her mother. She thinks she's a horse, at least that's what she thought to be when I left. The youngest, Lisa, should be asleep. The jury is still out on how this kid will develop. You know mom and dad, and try to evade Grandma. She will try to cop a fell if she'd here, but we might be lucky and she's out with a friend. Ready?"

"Your family is truly scary."

"I know, but don't worry, you will be fine."

We got out of the car after disposing of some of our armory and Val welcomed us not so nicely.

"Stephanie, how nice of you to come by for lunch. And one of your bodyguards, I see." You could practically see the sarcasm dripping off of her.

"Val, that's Brett, one of my co- workers and my partner for the day."

"Brett, how nice to meet you. Please come in."

"Where's Grandma?"

"She went shopping with one of her crazy friends. We can't she behave like a woman of her age should? It's so embarrassing."

"Val she's just having fun. Are the girls her, too?" It was surprisingly quiet in the house, no TV blaring, no neighing. Brett had been quiet too, unsure on how to act around my sister.

"Angie is sitting in the living room, doing her homework. Mary Alice is helping Mom in the kitchen with the sandwiches. I had to threaten her to ground her to quit this stupid neighing." I wasn't the only one whose eyes widened in shock.

"You did what?"

"She gave me a headache." Like that would explain it.

"Valerie, for God's sake, you are going to break her spirit! You can't do this to your daughter. You should encourage her to be her own person."

"Why can't she be more like her sister?"

"Stop it right there. I won't watch you belittling this girl. Where's Dad?"

"He went out with the cap."

Valerie went into the living room to check on Angie. Brett used this opportunity to question me.

"Is she always like this?"

"I have no idea why she is in such a bad mood. She's a lot worse than when I left, but I have no idea what changed it."

We went into the kitchen where we found my mom and Mary Alice, who were making sandwiches for lunch.

"Aunt Steph!" Mary Alice launched herself at me. I knew how hard it was for her to sit quietly.

"Hey honey, how are you?" I was really happy to see her again. She was a lot like me at that age.

"I'm so glad you are back. Mom's been a bit scary lately." She turned to Brett. "Who are you? You look a little scary with all your black clothes, but when Aunt Steph brings you I'm sure you are nice." I had to grin at this admission.

"You are right. I'm Brett, a co-worker at RangeMan."

"Isn't that Ranger's company?"

"Yeah. What kind of sandwiches did you make, honey?"

"I did the ham and cheese ones, but Grandma made some others as well."

We sat down for lunch and Val brought the conversation back to her self defense classes, no matter which topic we started, she managed to center the whole conversation. Brett was clearly not used to this kind of conversations. He looked slightly dazed.

"Steph, you said you took self defense classes?" Here we go again.

"You know I signed up for some classes myself. I was wondering if you would like me to teach you some moves." What the hell did she think? I could take Ranger down and she wanted to give me tips?

"Val, I don't think that will be necessary, but feel free to practice and test your moves on me." I would have to restrain myself or I could seriously hurt her.

Angie was eating like the nice, well behaved little Burg girl she was, whereas Mary Alice followed the discussion with interest.

"Aunt Steph?"

"Yeah?"

"Would you teach me some self defense?"

"Sure honey." I was wondering how long it would Val take to blow a casket. I didn't have to wait long

"No! I don't want my daughter around this thugs." Brett frowned at that, but wisely kept his mouth shut.

"Val, I don't think that you should be worried about Steph's co-workers. We met them on Monday, they are all very nice." Thanks Mom.

"Val, these guys saved my ass too many times to count. I trust them with my life. I would never do anything to endanger your daughter." That seemed enough to convince her, although she wasn't happy about it.

"Okay. Mary Alice you can let Steph teach you some things."

"Val, how do you want to handle it? I could pick her up after school twice a week when there's no job scheduled that needs my attention. We could have lunch, I would supervise her homework and than we could practice. That okay with you?" I knew I didn't need to ask Ranger about it. You would do anything for me I could ask for.

"Yeah. Mary Alice?" The girl was just nodding. Somehow she reminded me of these little nodding dogs some people have in their cars.

We finished lunch, thanked mom and made our way back to RangeMan. On the way over I remembered my birth control issue and decided to make a slight detour. Brett noticed it immediately.

"Where are we going?"

"I need to pick up a prescription at my gyn's. Should only take a few minutes."

He just nodded, indicating that he was okay with waiting for me. Everyone at RangeMan knew that Ranger and I were together and about the contract, so it was clear that I didn't want to become pregnant.

I walked in and talked to the nurse, asking her to organize my prescription. The waiting room was empty, so she called the doc out front.

"Stephanie, what brings you here? You aren't due for your yearly. Are you pregnant?"

"No. I want to prevent it. I need a prescription for the pill."

"I know you. You always forget them. What about the shot instead, it's as safe as the pill? We can mark it into the calendar so we'll give you a call when you need the next one."

"Sounds good to me."

I got my shot and was ready to go.

When I settled back into the car Brett just grinned at me.

"So issue taken care of?"

"Yup. Wouldn't want to force the Merry Men to babysit now, would we?" That shut him up, but I was grinning, so he knew I wasn't angry.

Back at RangeMan I first checked in with Tank. I told him about the days escapades, including being pulled over by Morelli and Picky.

"Why did they pull you over?"

"I have no idea. I was going under the speed limit, so that can't be the reason. I suspect it's because of the letter the PD received. Was from the government. Same one they got when Ranger settled down here."

"Shit."

"Don't worry, Morelli is just jealous, he will calm down. I have no idea how successful Picky was with frisking Brett but Morelli only found two guns, the rest went unnoticed. He didn't even find the throwing knives on my forearms and I was only wearing a long sleeved shirt over it."

"Wow. And you are armed like you want to invade the next best third world country you can find."

"Yeah. The PD was happy to hear that I'm Moxie. Apparently the letter only said that Moxie was coming into town, but there was no given name revealed. Can you imagine their faces? It was priceless."

"How did the visit at your mom's go?"

"It was okay. Val belittled Mary Alice and my training. She's taking classes and asked me if I wanted her to teach me some tricks. I offered her to try her moves on me. Oh, and I'm going to teach Mary Alice self defense. This girl has no self- esteem. Val is as bad as my mom, so I'm going to pick her up after school twice a week and then go through the whole procedure. Lunch, homework, training. I haven't seen this girl like this in too long a time. Grandma wasn't there so Brett went out unharmed." We had to laugh at this. All the guys knew Grandma Mazur and her wandering hands.

"You are good for her. Now go on up to the apartment. Ranger is waiting for you, he has been a real pain in the ass since you left this morning."

"Okay, how are our abductors holding up?"

"We have them separated. We feed and water them, but that's about it. We are not a nice jail with all the comfort."

"Good. These files need some research, but I'm visiting with Ranger first."

I couldn't wait to tell him about my day. I was happy to help Mary Alice, I was happy to stand up for her. I knew how hard it was in the Burg when you were different. I had to make it through first on my own and then with the help of Ranger and all his guys, including TK and his team. I was determined to make it easier for Mary Alice. She shouldn't have to face it all on her own.

_Let me know what you think. Any suggestions, wishes, advise?_


	20. Chapter 19

_Thanks for your kind words, ladies. I appreciate it._

_WARNING: violence and a little language!!_

**Chapter 19**

The rest of the week flew by. It was filled with skip tracing, getting settled in and nursing and entertaining Ranger. The first three days he was at home he was mostly out of it. The painkillers the doc at the hospital had prescribed him, combined with his concussion and the blood loss pretty much knocked him out, so he slept most of the day, recovering. I had to change his bandages every day and the gash on his head was healing nicely. The holes in his thigh would need a lot more time to heal and a lot of physio to get him back on top of things. The forth day at home he managed to stay awake long enough to get him safely into the shower. I went in with him to wash him, so his stitches wouldn't get wet. Fortunately his shower had a built in seat, because he wasn't able to support his weight. It was a struggle to even get him in and out, as was every trip to the bathroom for him. The days before I had just given him a sponge bath every day to make him feel better, but it just wasn't the same. He needed the shower.

But he was getting better, clearly noticeable when he started complaining. I knew that he was in pain, but sometimes he was acting like a spoiled little brat. He was moody and grumpy, but mostly he was just bored. He wasn't allowed to read yet and had been told to keep the TV to the minimum. He wanted me to stay with him the whole day to entertain him. He knew that that wasn't possible and he accepted it, but he had to try, see where my boundaries were. We agreed to send a few people up over the day to keep him company until Lester was off bed rest, so they could help each other. Lester wasn't allowed to work yet because of his broken ribs, so it was for the best. They could keep an eye on each other, and the rest of us could work. I spent time with Ranger whenever I had a minute, but he was getting restless.

I could fully understand him, as it was like I would have acted too. We were always in action, never slowing down. Stopping was like admitting that you were weak, not able to keep up. He couldn't stand this feeling of weakness and being a burden. And he wasn't used to step back and let others lead the way.

After Ranger's week of bed rest was up the entire staff heaved a sigh of relief. He was still pretty weak, due to his injured leg, but he managed a few hours of paperwork a day and he was finally allowed to move around.

Ranger had problems using the crutches, his leg still hurt too much and his bruised ribs didn't make it any easier on him. I knew that he needed physiotherapy, so we talked about it after I had seen him struggle once more.

"Ranger, you should get professional physio."

"Can't you or Bobby do it?" He was whining, highly unusual for Batman.

"No we talked about it, but we both think that it would be best to hire a pro for the time being."

"Okay. But there's more." Like always he could read me like a book.

"Yeah. We were thinking about hiring a physiotherapist/ masseur permanently. There's always one on staff who needs physio, so it would be the easiest solution. And when there's nobody injured we all could enjoy massages after our workouts. I really loved that during my training." That reminded me that I had been slacking off with my workouts, not a good idea. I would have to work it into my schedule somehow.

"Whatever you want Babe. Did you have someone in mind?"

"Not yet, but I could ask around and then ran the searches on the recommendations. You should probably hire a guy." I didn't want to admit it, but I didn't want another woman to touch him. Yes, I was jealous, but it had taken us so long to finally get together I didn't want to share him. I trusted him, but you never knew with women. Like usual he knew what I was thinking.

"Jealous, Babe?"

"Oh, do you want another woman to touch your thigh, or your ass when she's giving you a massage, maybe trying to cop a feel? And you know that Les would charm the pants off of her in no time. She would never be able to do anything but drool with you guys bare chested." I had to chuckle at that thought.

"Okay, okay. I surrender, you win." He was grinning at me. We both knew we would do anything for each other, just to make the other feel good.

With Ranger up we had another problem to address, the questioning of our traitors. We had agreed that I would try to get the info out of them. If I shouldn't succeed Tank and Hector would get a go. I was looking forward to beating the shit out of them. I had never been overly aggressive or violent, but I would do anything to protect my loved ones. And Ranger definitely fell into that category. The questioning was scheduled for Tuesday morning, one week after the actual incident. I was prepared for it and I would start with Sam. It would take place in one of the special interrogation rooms you could find at RangeMan. Concrete gray rooms with a chair, a table and a sink in the corner. These rooms were easy to clean and were connected through a one way mirror with an observation room. This was where Ranger and Lester were staying. They wanted to get there pieces, too, but they just weren't up for that kind of physical confrontation yet.

I had decided to start with Sam. I didn't know him personally, but he had heard of me and he had seen me in action, so he should be easier to intimidate. The four pother guys would probably see me as some piece of ass, but never as a threat to their health. I was showing full force, meaning fully equipped utility belt, but sans the throwing knives. To counterbalance this I had a nice little tool box, containing everything you could imagine to encourage someone to talk. I was determined to use it should Sam be unwilling to answer me. Toby had given it to me, telling me to use it should I ever go on a mission and need Intel, that would be the way to get it. He had even explained to me how to use the items to get the best results.

When Tank and Bobby brought Sam into the room I was waiting in he was cuffed and shackled.

"Deposit him in the chair and free him." My voice held the tone of authority. I would lead this op and all the men involved were to obey me. Ranger's orders. The guys did as I told them and stepped back, intending to join Lester and Ranger.

"No stay." They nodded and took up position behind me, ready to back me up. Sam looked wary. We had had him in isolation for a week, no contact with anyone. Another method to break them and make them talk. Now let the games begin.

"Sam, you can make this easy on yourself and answer me or we can do it the hard way. Your choice." I had my blank face slammed down, because I was furious. I would show him when the time was right.

"Bitch!" Pissing me off would do him no good.

"Alright, we will do it the hard and painful way. Why did you do it?" I had managed to keep my voice level so far, but that my change any second. I didn't need to tell him what I was talking about. He knew it anyway.

"I won't tell you!" He was screaming at me. I kneed him in the balls, hard, so his face turned a lovely shade of purple.

"Why?" I was more demanding now.

"Why do you want to know?"

"I'm asking the questions. You are to answer them!" He was doing everything to severely piss me off and I was getting livid.

"Why?" My voice was menacing now, as was my face. I felt the guys flinch behind me, unsure of my reaction. He had just kept grinning at me, but now you could see he wasn't so sure of going out unharmed anymore. Hell he was working for Ranger, he should have known what would happen if he ever found out.

"Why did you want to kill all these innocent people? Why did you betray Ranger?" I followed my demands with a hard blow to his head, knocking him to the side.

"He has everything I don't have. He has too much power. Fuck you!"

"What do you mean?"

He kept silent, angry at himself because of his sudden outburst. I saw the need to encourage him and grabbed my toolkit. I started to take out the items I intended to use and lined them up in front of him. Big needles , really sharp knives with a short blade, the blades differing in width, a hammer and the metal block that came with it. You get the picture. Sam visibly paled at my assembled toys and the guys sucked in a sharp breath when they saw what I had selected. Sam still refused to talk, so I had slapped him hard, smacking his head to the side. He nearly fell over in his chair, but managed to catch himself.

"Why are you so angry at Ranger?" It was getting harder and harder not to yell at him, but I had learned that you get better results when you aren't yelling.

"Bitch!" Another kick to his balls.

"Why?"

"You fucking cunt!" Before he could blink I had taken one of the blades to his arm, carving a 'S' into it. Sam screamed in agony. It was bleeding and it had to hurt like a bitch, because all the blades in this kit were coated with a special substance, preventing it to stop bleeding and triggering even more pain.

"Ready to talk yet?" My voice was getting louder, I was about to loose my temper and that would end bad for him, but I would never get the answers we so desperately needed.

"My cousin." We were finally getting somewhere.

"What about him?"

"He worked here, too."

"Worked?" I knew that he was talking about Tomas Gordez. The guy I had killed.

He refused to answer so I selected once again another tool. I grabbed his hand and one of the needles shoving it roughly between his ring and middle finger. Again he screamed in pain.

"What about him?"

"He was fired before his trial period ended!" He was screaming at me, accusing me.

"Why?" I managed not to flip out, but Sam couldn't control himself any longer.

"There was no reason!" He was yelling. I was surprised that he was still sitting in his chair. Oops, he launched himself at me, but I was ready and flipped him on his back, bruising his back severely, but I didn't care.

"Think again."

"He did research! He was good!"

I let my voice get soft. "He also did the research for your job appliance?"

"What's your problem?" His arms and legs were flailing around and I was about to loose my patience.

"He doctored the results! That got several of Ranger's men hurt. He wasn't trustworthy so of course Ranger was going to fire him. He was a risk to the whole company." I was finally screaming at him.

"You are stupid!" And the needle went in again. He was pale, clearly hurting, but still stubborn. I wasn't finished with yet. He screamed out in agony, but that wouldn't help him. Time to change tactics.

"You can answer my questions or Tank will make you talk. Your choice." I slapped him to make my point.

"You," came out barely audible, squeezed through his clenched teeth.

"Then talk. Why did you take hostages?"

"To hurt Ranger." We were getting nowhere and I had lost my patience. I punched him in the face, breaking his nose in the process.

"Tank, your turn. Do whatever it takes. I have no idea what Ranger has planned for him."

I traded places with Tank. He went over and started beating Sam to a bloody pulp. I didn't care. He and his associates had nearly turned Ranger into a lifeless bloody pulp, so he didn't deserve better. In the end Sam told us the story.

Ranger had way back taken Sam's big brother, John, in who was now serving time in a high security prison. He had been arrested on rape and attempted murder. Several other bounty hunters hadn't been able to bring John in, but Ranger finally brought him back into the system. Sam and his felons believed that it was Ranger's fault that John was serving jail time, so they set out to ruin him, just like he had ruined John's life. They planned to infiltrate RangeMan. The attempted bombing of Bottini's and the taking of hostages was supposed to show the world that Ranger and his company weren't as great as everybody thought. They wanted to ruin Ranger's life and his reputation, but Sam had other motives, too. He was jealous of Ranger, envied him for everything he had. His money, his success in business, the love he shared with me. Just because one little fuck wasn't happy with his own life, he had nearly ruined the lives of all the other RangeMen and innocent people who didn't even know why they were in this situation.

In the afternoon Tank questioned the associates and confirmed the story Sam had told us. I had never seen them again. I had no idea what happened to them. They may either be dead and been disposed of or shipped off to some third world country, never to be seen again. The other employees never got to know the entire truth. They were only told had Sam had betrayed Ranger and that the threat had been taken care of.

I used that afternoon to snuggle on the couch with Ranger. His ribs were getting better, so I didn't need to be as careful anymore. Sure we had slept wrapped around each other, but I had always feared to hurt him. We enjoyed this lazy afternoon. It was one of the few I would have in the next weeks, but we also talked about business.

"Babe. Are you going to work for me?"

"Yeah. That's what I thought."

"Okay. You can still trace skips for Vinnie, we will just draw up another contract. But I'm sure you will want to do field work."

"Yes?"

"You need a partner for this. Tank was wondering, as he is currently out of a partner, if you would like to work with him. You two would head up all the field ops."

"Sure, that's what I have been wondering about, too. What about Bobby?"

"He will train the new hires and deal with most of the paperwork."

"Okay."

"Good. That's settled then, now let me kiss you." And he kissed me. It was a soft kiss with only a hint of tongue, but tender, gentle and full of emotion. We poured our love for each other in this kiss.

"I love you, Ric."

"I love you, too."

After this we lay quiet, just enjoying the company of each other, until Ella brought dinner up. It was delicious as always, so I couldn't hold my moans in.

"Babe, stop it. You are torturing me!" He was off bed rest, but was still denied all physical activity, including sex. We would have to wait another week or two. Physical activity remembered me that I had the first session with Mary Alice scheduled for the next day.

"Ranger?"

"Yeah?"

"You remember I told you last week that I'm going to teach Mary Alice self defense?"

"Yeah."

"Well, her first lesson is tomorrow. I promised Val to pick her up at school, have lunch with her and supervise her homework before we start the training. I would like you to have lunch with us. Is this okay with you?"

"Sure. I like her."

"Okay, are we going to eat here, or should I take her to the break room?"

"Let's have lunch here. She can also make her homework here, so the guys won't bug her."

"I just hope she doesn't get scared of them."

"I'm sure she will be fine. Just tell me when you girls need anything."

"I thought about doing these sessions twice a week. Is this okay?"

"Yeah, gives Tank a chance to catch up on paperwork." That caused me to grin. All the guys hated paperwork.

"Why don't you hire someone especially for paperwork? We all hate it." That caused him to chuckle.

"I will think about it."

We spent the evening on the couch, just relaxing together. I told him more about my training as we hadn't gotten the chance yet to watch the tapes. We decided to watch them a tape at a time at the weekly Monday morning meetings where the entire staff was present. That would show them I wasn't one to mess with.

_Tell me what you think, please. Al kind of tips, suggestions and advice are welcome._


	21. Chapter 20

_Thank you for your kind and encouraging words. I tried to not write so uptight. ;-)_

_No warnings for this chapter, but maybe for the next? ) _

**Chapter 20**

The self defense classes with Mary Alice were going really well. The guys had been introduced to her and although she was a little scared at the beginning, she became soon pretty comfortable around them, especially Ranger. He had had lunch with us whenever he had the time and helped with her homework. I had more than once found him looking wistfully at her. He saw what he was missing with his own daughter, but maybe we would have a kid of our own sometime. The both of them had gotten pretty close and he helped her to fly, just like he had helped me. Her self-confidence had gotten a really big boost. We had even taken Val aside and talked to her about Mary Alice and how she treated her. She had finally realized that her daughter needed and deserved the chance to live her own life. Mary Alice was definitely happier now, you could see it whenever you met her. Her eyes were sparkling and she was just content. She had even overcome being a horse. It was her way to show her mom that she was an individual and not like everybody else. Once that wasn't necessary anymore, she stopped it. And we were all proud of her.

The guys had finally gotten to call her M.A., it was easier. She had improved pretty quickly and I had decided that she needed to test her moves on someone other than me, we needed a guy to practice with. It was more likely for her to be approached by a guy than by a woman. The guys hadn't seen us practice yet. I had asked them to leave us alone in the combat room and I had scrambled the video feed. That was one of the topics in a Monday morning meeting, approximately a month and a half after Ranger was released from the hospital.

We had already discussed the ongoing jobs, meetings which needed to be organized with potential clients and all the other important aspects of the business.

"Okay, tomorrow's a meeting with a Mrs Semal, she has a escort agency and wants better security for her girls. I want you to sit in Moxie, something about her is off, maybe you can figure it out."

"Yeah, you are just hoping she won't try to fondle you again." Tank had to add. All of the guys grinned at this, apparently she had tried this more than once.

"Okay. But I have another request." The guys nodded, indicating for me to go on. "You all know how I have been teaching my niece self defense. We need a volunteer to practice on. Anyone willing to do it? She needs a male, cuz a kick to the balls just isn't effective on me." I smiled encouragingly. I knew they all would do anything for me, just as I would for them, but it's something else to volunteer to get your balls kicked.

Lester spoke up. "She can try me. I don't think it would hurt that much, so maybe she should get a turn with more than one of us. We have all our own style, so the more of us practice with her the better." He looked around to find the others nodding. "Alright, that's settled than. What about two sessions with each of us?"

"Sure, that would be great. Thanks guys, I appreciate it."

"Meeting adjourned. Core team and Moxie stay." All the guys were calling me Moxie now, except for the occasional teasing. Even Ranger called me Moxie when others were around. I had asked him about it and he told me that by calling me Moxie they all show their respect. When we were alone he called be Babe. I would have him strangled if not. I hadn't blown anything up since I came back, but that had nothing to say and it did nothing to convince the boys to stop calling me Bombshell..

The rest of the guys left, ready to face a new week of fighting crime and making Trenton a better place.

Apparently the core team knew what was up and I was the only one who had no idea. Their smiles told me that something was up.

"There are two things we need to discuss. First, the paperwork from Washington finally arrived. They want us to come sign it sometime next week. And they have a mission they want us to go on. All five of us."

"Any specifics yet?" Tank wanted to know.

"No. They want us to come down to DC to discuss the job with us. Moxie needs to sign her contract and mine needs to be changed and signed. They requested your presence as well. I guess they will send us out directly from DC should we agree to do the job. The contact hinted about flying charter. Pretty obvious."

"Ranger are you up to this?" I was concerned, as he was still experiencing pain at times. Sure, he and Lester had started their workouts again, but they were still not up to their best. The docs had after four weeks finally declared that they were both up to physical activity again. Our nights had been pretty preoccupied after this.

"Yeah, have handled worse. And I trust you to watch my back." He grinned at me.

"Who's gonna take over here?" Lester.

"Was thinking about Hal and Ram. Or someone from Miami. Don't know yet." We all nodded.

"Okay, other reason you had to stay here. Moxie, we have a job proposition for you. You have pretty much taken my place while I was out of the game. We would like you to become a permanent member of the core team."

Tank saw my confused look and provided some more information. "You are as good as we are, hell maybe even better. You kicked Ranger's ass for God's sake. We want you as a member of our team. We trust you. You would head up Bond Enforcement and Staffing and a little timetable management. Practically the girl for everything."

"What?" I wasn't sure I had heard correctly. Ranger just reached over to lift my jaw to its original place.

"What do you mean with Staffing? I understand the other two, but with that I've some problems."

Tank answered me. "It means you're doing the job interviews. When your gut..."

"Spidey sense." interrupted Ranger and I simultaneously.

"Spidey sense tells you we shouldn't hire the guy we won't take him. You decide. You've been right about Sam, we should give you the chance to continue this." He paused for a moment. Sam had double crossed Ranger, because he had brought his brother John back to jail who is still doing jail time. My gut had told me there were no other accomplices connected with them on staff and I had been right. "As for Bond Enforcement, your Burg network gives you almost more information than our contacts on the street. These two networks combined and no skip has a chance anymore."

"Moxie, it gets better. You would sit in at meetings with new clients. They trust you. We have made three big new contracts since you are back, because they trust you to take care of their problems. You don't look like a intimidating thug, more like the friendly and trustworthy business woman. And your feeling about them is better than what we observe. You notice things we don't even think about. We're all thrilled to think military. You're just creative, despite your training." Lester assured me.

Bobby pipped up "You make this team complete. You brighten our day without us asking. You're one of very few people who trust us completely. You've never looked down at us, never handled us like scum, and you have never been afraid of us. We are scary, but you never questioned your safety when we were around. Trust us Moxie. You would make this team complete."

"Okay."

Ranger looked disbelieving at me. "Okay? That's it? No argument?"

"Why should I? It's a offer I can't refuse and I like working with you guys. You're my family, I'm more with you guys than with my actual family. And I'm a lot more comfortable around you guys. You know Grandma."

The guys engulfed me in hugs, happy that I had accepted. Ranger sealed the deal with a kiss. "Thank you, Babe."

"I have just one more question. Who am I going to be partnered with? With all of you back in the game, it's kinda complicated."

"We haven't discussed that problem yet, but there are different possibilities. We'll talk about it once we're back from the mission, okay?" I nodded.

"Will I get my own office?" The guys chuckled. The members of the core team had pretty big offices with a couch and chairs for visitors, a little bit of personal space for them. I was still sitting in a cubicle.

"Yeah, you will get your office. You can even decide how you want it painted. But for now you've to deal with your cubby. Okay?" Ranger was smiling at me.

"Okay."

"Dennis will draw up the contract, so we can go over it tomorrow. Let's get started."

We headed out to our assignments. My Monday's were usually filled with paper work, so I headed to my desk. I had to write the reports for the surveillance I had done over the weekend. Weekend reminded me that I had been so busy at RangeMan that we had never had the chance to go out on a girls night out. We hadn't had the PD party yet and I hadn't met Ranger's family. Girls night out was the top of my list, so I gave Mary Lou a call. Her boys should be out of the house by now.

"Hey Lou."

"Hey, what's up?"

"Girls night out?"

"Sure. When, where, who?"

"Sometime this week, I don't know, you, Connie, Lula."

"You know, you adapted to the way all these guys talk. Do you still say goodbye?" We both had to laugh at this. I had constantly complained about Ranger's lack of telephone manners, but mine weren't that much better anymore.

"Yeah. Most of the time. You got any idea where we could go?"

"What about the Liberty Ballroom?"

"Sounds good. What about tomorrow? We have to go to DC on business next week and it might take us a while until we can come back." I had already checked my schedule, I was free that night.

"Sounds great. Eightish?"

"Sure. I will pick you up." We disconnected.

I had finished my paperwork, so I checked with the comm room if the new files at Vinnie's had been picked up yet. Woody gave me the negative, so I told him I would go pick them up. I drove over to the office, buying donuts and some healthy muffins on the way.

When I walked in Connie was doing her nails and Lula was lounging on the sofa, looking bored.

"Hey white girl. Long time no see. Look, she brought donuts." Lula was happy and squealing, lunging herself at the donuts.

"Hey. Any new files?" I asked Connie.

"Yeah. Three for RangeMan."

"What do you girls think about a night out? I already called Mare, she's in."

"Sounds good. When and where?" Connie had to answer as Lula was still busy wolfing donuts down.

"Tomorrow, eightish, Liberty Ballroom."

"Hey sounds good. Count me in. Lula?"

"Sure. I'll be there."

"Okay. We're gonna pick you up. I'll take one of the Merry Men with me to watch my back, and he'll drive us."

"Yup, booze for us." It's the little things that make Lula happy.

"Lula, how are your take downs going?"

"Okay, but not that great."

"Do you have any back up?" I had already talked with Ranger about it. He thought it was a great idea to help Lula. He thought it showed how loyal I was toward my friends.

"No."

"You know, you can always call me. When I'm not available someone will come and help you, just call the control room."

"How come you can make decisions like this?"

"Member of the core team?"

"You what?? Girl, we gonna celebrate." Lula was bouncing in excitement, happy for me. I had my reasons for leaving Monday night free. I was pretty sure Ranger had some serious celebration planned for me tonight.

"Yup."

"What's Vinnie gonna say?" Connie wanted to know.

"Nothing. I'm head of Bond Enforcement."

"That's so cool girl."

"Lula, would it help you if I showed you some tricks to make the take downs easier?"

"You would actually do that for me?" Lula was back to squealing.

"Sure, why not. Give me a call when you have the time. You've helped quite often. It's time I repay the favor." Connie was making appreciative noises, too. She had finally gotten around to eat some donuts. I had already eaten my muffins, when both of them suddenly got the deer in headlights stare and went silent. One guess to who has entered the office. I wasn't surprised as I had heard the truck, but they hadn't picked up on it.

"Ladies." Ranger nodded at Lula and Connie and came over to kiss me hello.

"Stop it!" Lula was screaming at us, apparently afraid we would go at it on Connie's desk, but it was one of our more civilized kisses. She had never seen us when we meant business. Tank had.

"Lula, calm down. That's nothing. He hasn't even his hand up her shirt." Well that was true, he was grasping my ass.

After a few minutes we ended our kiss, both breathing a little harder.

"Babe, you free tonight?"

"Yup."

"You up for some celebration? The core team invites you to dinner at Rossini's." He was smiling all 200 watts at me. Lula and I looked at each other and started squealing simultaneously "Shopping!!"

"That's what I figured. Mall shouldn't be too crowded at the moment. You gonna be okay or want back up?"

"We should be okay."

"You got your credit card with you?"

"Nope, left it in the drawer." He took his wallet out and gave me his card.

"Have fun. I made reservations for 7 o' clock. That okay with you?" He smiled affectionately at me.

"Sure." He took the files and kissed me goodbye. When the daze had lifted he was already gone.

"So, shopping with Batman's credit card, huh?"

"Yup, let's go."

After four hours we had finally found the perfect dress, shoes, purse and the lingerie that went with it. The dress was blue, the same color as my eyes and fit perfectly. It made my legs look longer, my waist slimmer and my boobs bigger, and allowed me to wear a thigh holster, hence it was perfect.

The rest of the day was spent on my desk, doing research on our new skips. I signed off at 4pm to get ready. I did the full beautifying, exfoliating and shaving, everything. And I shaved everything. Ranger would be surprised. He had hinted about it, but I had never had the guts. I had become stronger, I could do this. And if we didn't like it, it would grow back.

I was ready at 6.30. The guys were waiting in the living room for me, all in black suits. Looked like I was going out with the mob, only thing missing where the hats and cigars.

"Where did you loose your hats and the suitcase with the money?" Ranger was chuckling, we didn't need words to communicate. One glance and we knew what the other was thinking. The rest had no idea what I was talking about.

"Jeez, you guys could at least wear a colored dress shirt instead of black. You look like mafia. Go get changed. We will meet you in the garage in five." They just stared at me.

"What? I want to have fun, not get arrested. Les, before you say anything, I know that I don't know how to have fun." That caused all of them to chuckle, and they went off to get some color. When I first met them on a redecorating job he told me that I didn't know how to have fun, because I didn't like being shot at and I didn't like getting arrested.

We had a blast at Rossini's. We talked and laughed, even Ranger ,and enjoyed ourselves and the food immensely. The guys told me about their missions. As I was now at the same security clearance level as them they could tell me a little more about the stuff they had done. Ranger and I were in constant contact, but the highlight was dessert. I ordered tiramisu, which Ranger proceeded to feed me, alternating with hot, passionate kisses. We finally decided to head back. Ranger and I had taken the Turbo, so he had to drive himself, no making out in the backseat this time. We weren't in the car when he started his caresses in earnest. My panties had been ruined be the time we ordered dessert, but now I needed him.

He pulled out of the parking lot and I started to repay the favor. I was stroking him through his pants, his own arousal clearly visible. He groaned.

"Babe, stop that. You are killing me." I leaned over to nuzzled his neck.

"Hmm."

We didn't make it back to the apartment. Before I could say anything he had pulled over and I was sitting in his lap, kissing him feverishly.

_Any suggestions for a partner for Steph? And what kind of mission should they go on?_


	22. Chapter 21

_Thanks to my wonderful reviewers. Keep it up, please!_

_WARNING: Major SMUT in this chapter, but absolutely no storyline, just the way home from Rossini's. If you don't like smut, you have to wait for the next chapter. )_

_I don't own any of them, I don't make money, and I will probably return them. Well, maybe I will keep Ranger or one of the Merry Men for myself :)_

**Chapter 21**

His kisses were hot and demanding, passionate. His hands were grasping my ass cheeks, pulling me hard against him. I could feel his hard on pressed into my belly and all I could think of were ways to get him inside me.

"Ranger" I was moaning, his kisses felt so good. He brought his right hand up to my breast, using the other one to push the seat back as far as it would go before placing it on my ass again. He was kneading my breasts alternately, rubbing and pinching my nipples through my dress. He was making them hard enough to cut through stone. He had me in a frenzy before he had even touched me were I needed him most.

"Ranger, please." My moans were breathless now with desire.

He brought his left hand up under the hem of my skirt, using only his fingertips to trace lines up the inside of my thighs. He ripped my panties away and plunged first one, than two fingers into my soaking wet opening, rubbing his thumb over my clit in hard little circles, his other hand never leaving my breasts. His mouth left mine to trail kisses down my jaw to my ear and down my neck, before he finally sucked at the junction of my neck and shoulder, marking me for everyone to see that I was his.

He bit down hard and before I even realized how close I was he pushed me over the edge. I was screaming his name in ecstasy, bucking on his fingers which continue to thrust into me, prolonging my orgasm. I could dimly hear him groan, but my own high was too much to notice anything else going on around us. I was only aware of Ranger and me, the feelings we had for each other, the shared passion.

He cradled me in his arms and kissed me tenderly, stroking my back in soothing circles until the aftershocks subsided. When I came back down to awareness long moments later he had already freed his cock from its confines. Before I could blink he had lifted me enough to thrust into me, one agonizing inch at a time, so slowly I thought I was going out of my mind. We both moaned at the sensations this was causing us, of him being inside me, stretching and filling me, making us both feel complete.

He gave me a few moments to get used to his size and then he began to slowly thrusting inside me. He started slowly, so slowly but he sped up until his strokes were hard and fast, touching my cervix with every thrust. I was moaning with every movement, my hips meeting his on their own account. Ranger was groaning my name and placed a finger over my clit, running circles over it, his circular motions speeding up in time with his thrusts. It didn't take him long to push us both over the edge, crying out each other's name. My muscles were contracting hard around him, prolonging both our orgasms. We were trembling in each other's arms. My breath was coming in short gasps and my lungs felt like they were on fire. Ranger's breathing was just as labored as my own.

When we had our breathing back under control Ranger adjusted the seat so he could drive. He started the car and pulled back into the traffic, never pulling out of me. He used his thigh muscles to tease me, rubbing his cock against my g-spot, driving me crazy.

I was back to moaning once again. "Ranger, what about the cameras in the garage?" I was beyond caring at this point, but I didn't want to give the guys too big a show. They would tease us for months if they saw us having sex in the car. I had talked to Hal after I had stunned him, the guys had mercilessly teased him for months on end.

"Shh, don't worry. I can scramble the cameras." That was good enough for me, especially as he was teasing my clit again. He kept me at the edge the entire drive, his teasing never enough to push me over. It was getting hard for me to breath, the sensations he was causing almost too much to bear. Nothing I tried could convince him to take pity on me, to allow me my orgasm. Neither the sucking on his neck, not the pinching of his nipples or the contracting of my inner muscles. He groaned and his breathing became more labored but that' about it.

When we finally arrived at RangeMan He took at last pity on me. Our arousal was already so high, it took only o few strokes to put us out of our pleasurable misery and sent at least me into a mind numbing orgasm, but Ranger found release as well.

"Wow." I whispered into his ear, the ability to form coherent thoughts and sentences had currently left my mind. I could only hope I would someday be able to talk again.

I was content, felt complete, something I had experienced with nobody else but Ranger. Even the night we spent together after our deal it was so much more than sex, so much more special than every sex I had ever had before, even with Joe. Sure, the sex with Joe was great, but it was just sex. With Ranger, we were making love, worshipping at each other's temple.

Ranger gave me a few more minutes to catch my breath and then he pulled out of me. I couldn't suppress the disappointed whimper that escaped me at the loss.

"Can't get enough, Babe? I promise, when the night is over you will beg me to stop." His voice was a silky, husky whisper, arousing and at the same time teasing me. "Ready to go up?" He rearranged himself and we got out of the car. My legs were weak, unable to support my own weight. I had no chance in hell to make it to the elevator without embarrassing myself. Ranger came up behind me and encircled my waist with his strong, muscular arms.

"Can't walk?" His voice was smug. Bastard.

I shook my head no and he turned me around, lifting me up so that my legs could encircle his hips while my arms came up around his neck. He walked us into the elevator, his hands once again on my ass, not that I minded. When we were in the lift he started kissing me again. His kisses were passionate but sensual, promises of what was to come. He repositioned me in a way that his cock was rubbing against my hot center through his pants, leaving smudges of our mixed cum on it. Ella would definitely know what he had been up to, not that she didn't know anyway.

We made it up to the apartment without ripping each other's clothes of, but it was a close call.

Once inside the apartment there was nothing what could have stopped us, our clothes went flying, never to be seen again. Well, maybe Ella would find them. The guys knew that we were offline and only to be contacted in the most dire emergency.

We made love everywhere in the apartment, against the front door, on the kitchen counter, on the dining room table, on the couch, the desk in his home office and the last, but most enjoyable round took place in our bed.

When we finally arrived at our bed Ranger went suddenly serious.

"Do you trust me, Babe?"

"Yes!" I answered him without hesitation, although I had no idea where he was coming from.

"Absolutely trust me?"

"Yes. I love you."

"Okay. Lie down on your back, please. I love you." I did as I was told, a little anxious to see what he had in mind. I knew that I would enjoy it immensely. He went over to his nightstand and took a couple of silk scarves out, tying me spreadeagled to the bedpost.

The feeling of being helpless, being totally at Ranger's mercy turned me on so much I whimpered.

"Shh, relax Babe." He had one scarf left which he used to blindfold me.

"Just relax, Babe. Let me do the work for you, just enjoy the sensations, how I make you feel." I nodded and he began kissing me. Light, tender kisses.

His hands were everywhere, teasing and stroking, causing goosebumps to erupt all over my body. The sensations were intensified because I couldn't see, always wondering what he would do next, but never knowing until I felt it. His mouth followed his hands before he settled for my nipples, licking and nipping, pinching them and biting, whatever came to his mind. This attentions where enough to send me into bliss again. His hands wandered down to my mound, teasing and stroking, pushing me to the edge and keeping me there. I lost track of time as he held me at the small line between the sides, almost as if he couldn't decide. I was begging him to give me some release, but he had none of it. After what felt like hours he finally took pity and thrust into me, sending me immediately to orgasm. The sensations were so intense I fainted. When I came to he had freed my bonds and was leaning over me, a lightly worried look on his face.

"You okay?" I could just nod. I took a few more breaths until I could take again.

"Yeah. That was..."

"Intense?"

"Yeah, but so much more. Thank you. I love you."

"I love you, too. Now sleep." And that's what we did. I had chanced a look at the alarm clock beside his bed, it was already four am. I thought about foregoing my run. I had had enough exercise, no need to add to it.

The next day came around awfully fast, and everyone could see how I had spent the night. I was glowing like every time I spent quality playtime with Ranger.

_I know that this chapter is pretty short, sorry for this, but I promise that the next one will be longer. I wasn't sure how to go on, so I thought I would post this chapter while thinking about the next :)_


	23. Chapter 22

_Thanks for the reviews. Keep them coming, please!_

_No warnings for this chapter. I still don't own them, though. Damn!_

**Chapter 22**

After breakfast we went down for the meeting with Mrs Semal. The rest of the team was already waiting in the conference room, the only one missing was the client. Everyone was wearing the formal version of the RangeMan uniform, black dress pants and proper ironed shirts.

Tank was the first to notice our entrance, holding hands. "So, Bombshell, how was the drive home?"

I could feel myself blush. Damnit. How did they know what we had been up to?

"No worries, Bomber. We were here before you and started the drive home more than half an hour after you guys left Rossini's. And the Turbo was nowhere to be seen." This caused all the guys to chuckle. Hell, they just had to look at me to see that I had had a night of amazing sex. I squeezed Ranger's hand a little harder, indicating for him to answer.

"Well Tank, we had some problems we had to take care of during the ride." That was so not what he was supposed to tell them.

"That's what we thought Boss." All the guys were snickering now.

Lester walked over with a cup of coffee for me. "You know Bombshell, you can always dump Ranger and take me. I'm way better than he is."

"Lester look at me! Do you see the need for any improvement? I just had a night of amazing sex with the man I love and you offer your services?" He nodded happily, knowing it was all good natured teasing. "Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but maybe Ranger could give you some tips, so your dates stay with you a little longer, not just for one night. Maybe you can convince them to stay for three or four nights." I thought a moment and then spoke to the room in general. "Hey guys would that qualify as a longterm relationship for Santos?" Snickers could be heard throughout the room.

"Bombshell, you hurt me." He even squeezed out some fake tears.

I hugged him and let my voice drop to the sympathetic level you use with a child who fell on his knee. "Lester I'm sooooo sorry. You know we all feel with you." Lester started sobbing into my shoulder, after he had lifted me up in his arms, so we were face to face. The rest of the room was more or less rolling on the floor, shaking with laughter, wonder how they were going to explain to Ella how they ruined their uniforms in a normal, boring meeting. "Shh, calm down. You know we all love you."

We were interrupted by a knock on the door and Woody came in, followed by Mrs Semal. Introductions were made and I earned me a disapproving look by Mrs Semal who insisted that Mr Manoso should feel free to call her Emma. We all had problems to hold in our snorts. Ranger, professional as ever continued to call her Mrs Semal. She wasn't happy about it, but there was nothing she could do. I sat next to Ranger, opposite the client and she was practically stripping him naked with her eyes. She didn't like that Ranger and I were touching continuously. I couldn't help it. I saw the need to mark my territory. Well the love bites we both sported did probably a good job, but better safe than sorry.

After discussing her problem back and forth they finally came to a solution. I had zoned out somewhere, probably after she mentioned the third time how important security nowadays was. Hey, we are sitting in a conference room at RangeMan. We live of security. Nobody knows its importance more than we do.

Ranger leaned into me. "Which happy place are you?"

"Beach." He chuckled and I continued to dream of wet, naked Ranger on a tropical beach. My favorite daydream.

The meeting finally came to an end. I had no idea what they had agreed on, but my part only was to keep our client at bay, so that was okay.

We had lunch with the guys in our apartment, goofing off. That was relatively new for me. Sure, they had relaxed before, but never that much. They were downright comical, making jokes and laughing.

"Uh, you guys okay?"

"Sure, why do you ask, Bombshell?" Funny, Tank.

"I mean, you didn't get some wacky tobacco, did you?"

"Why, Babe?"

"You guys are freaking me out. I have never seen you so relaxed and at ease."

"Well, we do it rarely, but when we relax we do it properly." With that Ranger pulled me into his lap to feed me my dessert. Gotta love Ella. She always remembered to bring me dessert, even when Ranger didn't want any.

"I've got a question. When do we've to leave for DC?"

"Tuesday. Why are you asking, Babe?"

"I hinted towards my mom that we might be leaving town for a while. She's okay with it, but she insisted that everyone who's going should come by for dinner. Which means, all of you are invited to dinner in hell. My mom told me to threaten you with Grandma should you resist coming. So question is, when do you guys want to go?"

"Okay. We have to coordinate it with dinner at my family. You guys know the procedure. My mom's going to lecture us about our lifestyle not compatible for a permanent relationship, yada, yada, yada."

"So that's where you got all the crap you kept feeding me?" I was grinning at Ranger, showing him that I was just teasing, but not accusing. It was still a sore subject how stupid we both had been.

"Yeah. Years of conditioning. So what do you say. Saturday Plum's, Sunday at the Manoso's?"

We all gave affirmatives and the subject was considered closed.

"Mom was planning on a cook out. Are their any guys who don't have family in the area or none at all? Told me to invite them as well."

"I'm not sure we won't need a counselor on staff after this. That's way past my experience with PTSD counseling." We all had to chuckle at that statement, as all of the guys had had to go to dinner with me at one time or another. They had survived Grandma barely, but there was no telling what she might do to the guys who hadn't met her yet.

"Just tell them to wear cups and to try to keep their butt away from Grandma and you guys should be fine. She isn't that scary."

"Bombshell, you grew up with her. You have no idea what it means to live in fear of being pinched by someone who could be your own Grandma. She's way too old to have that big a sex drive."

"Okay. You guys are right. She's scary, but so are you guys. And Ranger? I'm a lot like her." He got the picture. My sex drive was just as bad as Grandma's, maybe even worse. We had been insatiable since Ranger had been cleared for physical activity.

The banter went back and forth for a while and I got tired. I've got an plausible excuse. Batman has trained me for sleep deprivation. Okay, more like our constant love making has prevented us from sleeping, but I was sure that it would come in handy once we started the mission. Which reminded me.

"Anything new on the mission?"

"No, they only told me that we are to meet the sixth member of the team in DC. They wouldn't tell me who, only that we have worked with him before."

"Let's just hope he won't give me the girl speech. I'm tired of it."

Ranger kissed me and I went to bed. I had to take a nap in preparation for our girls' night out or I would fall asleep on them.

After my 3 hour nap Ranger came to wake me up. I had gotten to sleep naked and with me lying on my stomach he had the perfect opportunity to trail kisses up and down my spine, rousing me slowly from the death.

"Have a god nap?"

"Hmm."

"Come on, you have to get ready. Ella will bring dinner in an hour." I ignored him and snuggled into him, debating if it was worth the effort to get up or if I should pull him onto me and let the girls have fun without me.

"Babe, where do you went this morning in the meeting?"

"Huh?"

"Meeting? With Mrs Semal? Happy place?" Oh, I remembered.

"Well, we were on the beach. I was baking in the sun. You were coming out of the water, dripping wet and sexy as ever."

"Were we naked?"

"Yup."

"What happened then?"

"I have no idea, the meeting was adjourned by the time you made it over to me." This caused Ranger to laugh. A deep laugh that shook his belly and it made me unbelievable happy to know that I had made him laugh.

"We might make this fantasy of yours come true, though."

"Great."

I reluctantly got out of bed to get ready. I took a shower alone. Ranger wanted to join me, but I would never get to the girls on time if he did. I finished doing my hair and make up and was confronted with a major problem. How to dress, so I could carry. Before I went to get training that wouldn't have been a problem. My .38 would have been lying in my cookie jar and I would wander around careless. Not the cause anymore. Ranger might have a solution.

"RANGER!" He came immediately running into the bathroom.

"What's wrong, are you hurt?" He looked concerned. Oops.

"I've got a dressing problem." I admitted a little sheepish.

"Don't scare me like this, Babe. I thought you were in danger or something."

"I have no idea how to dress so that I can carry."

"You could go with a flaring skirt and a thigh holster, or you wear pants. Would be better, because with a top which covers the hem of your pants you can bring full artillery, sans the knives on your arms."

"Only problem, I don't have such a top or pants that would go with it."

"Check the closet. I'm sure Ella bought you something. And there should be matching boots somewhere." I kissed him and went of to snoop through all the goodies Ella bought. She had bought me soft leather pants that fit me perfectly and a beautiful top to go with it. Ranger came in while I was dressing.

"You almost ready? Dinner just arrived."

"Yeah. Who's the driver for tonight?" We had decided that it would probably be best to have one of the Merry Men drive us and provide back up.

"Vince. When he heard you were going out and wanted someone to come with he volunteered. I assigned him and then told that there won't be alcohol for him tonight. He wasn't too happy after that, but he should be okay."

"Thanks, that means a lot to me."

"Anything for you."

We had dinner and kissed goodbye.

"Have fun, Babe. Try not to break Vince, please. We might need him when we go to DC."

"I'll try my best. Love you."

"Love you, too." Another kiss and I went down the stairs. I met Vince in the garage, ready to catch up with the girls.

"Yo." Did the guys have to take a class on how to greet people before they were hired? Well, I had accustomed this greeting, too, so maybe I shouldn't be too snotty about it.

"Hey Vince. You ready to get started?"

"Let's go." He didn't sound too enthusiastic.

We got in the car and made the tour to pick up Mare, Lula and Connie. I introduced Vince and they said hi. What I hadn't expected was Lula. She was actual wearing something that fit and suited her, and it wasn't made of spandex.

"Wow, Lula, you look great."

"Thanks, white girl. Thought I would try something new. You know, get some distance between me and my former profession, now that I'm a bounty hunter like you and Batman."

"Steph, when are you gonna leave?" Mare wanted to know.

"Tuesday. I've got no idea when we will be back."

"We?" Connie inquired.

"Whole core team is going."

"Must be something big." Lula had to add her two cents.

"Yeah, but they won't tell us."

"What are you gonna do anyway?"

"You girls know that Ranger had to leave town sometimes to go away on business, right?" All three of them nodded.

"That's when he gave you those drool worthy kisses at the Tasty Pastry." Lula had to add. Thanks for telling Vince, Lula. Tomorrow every RangeMen will know how much Ranger and I have been making out in the alley. Well, most of them knew anyway. All of Trenton knew, except a few, well selected people. Like my mom.

"Well, I'll have to leave like this too sometimes."

"You trying to tell us you gonna work like Batman?"

"Yup."

Vince was snickering in the driver's seat, following our conversation with interest.

"How was the celebration yesterday?" Mare wanted to know. I was just wondering how she knew this as she hadn't been in the office.

"Went to Rossini's and had fun."

"After we went shopping with Ranger's credit card." Lula had to clarify.

"He gave you his card?"

"Sure. Why not?"

"Because you could do some serious damage to his bank account with it?"

"Hard to accomplish." That made them hapy and we chatted happy about other topics.

When we finally arrived at the Liberty Ballroom the girls started their inquisition in earnest. Between my coming home and Ranger being injured we hadn't spend that much time together and now they wanted to know everything about my training.

We ordered Margaritas and then they started their questions. They came too fast to keep track of who was asking which question.

"Where did you go for training?"

"Mexico."

"What was included in your training?" The girls seemed really interested in this, so I explained with a little more detail. Even Vince was listening closely.

"First I had to go through basic. You know, building strength and standard weapons, hand to hand combat, stuff like this. Did I forget something Vince?" He shook his head so I went on. "After that was Seals/ Rangers training. More specialized weapons and the whole extra stuff they torture you with. Survival training, different types of diving, parachuting. All the computer stuff and I had to learn at least another language."

"Which one?"

"Spanish and French."

"You tellin' me you speakin' Spanish?"

"Yup. Ranger was pretty surprised. He didn't know either." I had to smile at that. He had been so surprised when he'd whispered Spanish in my ear during our love making and I had responded in kind. Made it a lot easier to go around capture skips. Most skips didn't understand Spanish, so we could use it to our advantage, discussing how to round up our FTA in front of them. We had even had some fun with it at the cop shop, too.

"You finally got to fly?"

"Yeah. That was the best. The day we arrived they explained how they would train me and after lunch they took me chuting. I did tandem with Ranger, as it was the first time for me. It's everything you can imagine and more."

"Didn't you freak?"

"I was with Ranger. What should happen? He would never do anything to endanger me voluntarily, so there was no need to worry."

"Sounds like you trust him a lot."

"I've trusted him with my life since the day I met him." That got me a collective "Wow" Vince looked strange at me, but I would've ask him later.

I could feel that I was well on my way to tipsy and so were the girls.

"Were there any hot guys?"

"Why? You thinking about getting training, too?"

"Hot damn."

Vince thought it might be a good idea to stop Lula right then and there.

"Lula, you would have to get up at 4.30 to go running. And they would put you on a very healthy diet. Just ask Bomber."

"That true?"

"Yeah. I got the first sugar fix after four months. And you all know what sugar withdrawal does to me."

As one they screamed "HORNY!" Everyone was turning around and looking at us, thinking about alerting the cops. I could feel myself flush, but the girls weren't the least bit disturbed. Vince just snickered. That's me, Moxie, happy to provide your entertainment.

"So girls, what has been going on while I was away?"

They told me about Terri and Joe, the adventures of Vinnie and Joyce and everything else that had been going on. The only thing they didn't want to tell me was what Grandma was arrested for the third time RangeMan had to bring her in. They just told me I had to ask her myself.

Into our third round of Margaritas Vince convinced us to part ways to sleep off the buzz we all had going. Probably a good idea, because I had problems staying on my feet, let alone walk. Vince ended up more or less carrying me outside. The girls weren't in much better shape, but they could hold their booze a little better than me and were able to walk, not straight, but walk.

Vince brought all of us home, delivering the girls to their respective doormats. I was delivered directly to Ranger, what was probably a good thing. I couldn't remember the drive home. Must have snoozed off. Ranger stripped me, tucked me in and kissed me goodnight. That was the last I remembered before I passed out, until I woke up the next morning to the wonderful smell off Fries and Coke, waiting for me on my nightstand. Batman had brought me the cure. My hero.

_Any suggestions on how to improve my writing? Any wishes for the next chapters? Tell me!_


	24. Chapter 23

_Thanks to my great reviewers for the kind words!!_

_Standard disclaimer applies!_

**Chapter 23**

I munched down my not so healthy breakfast and went in search of Ranger. I had no idea what the assignments for the day were, so I figured I would ask him. Turned out there was nothing on the agenda for me.

"Got something for me to do?"

"No, but you could go ask the guys who wants to go with us on Saturday. Sent an e-mail around or something."

I sent the e-mail and went to the gym. I had been slacking off a little, which was unacceptable, especially so close to a mission. The gym was nearly empty, except for Tank and a few other guys I wasn't that close with.

"Hey Bombshell. You in a gym?" He was laughing at me. One year ago and the guys would have considered me seriously ill if they ever found me in the gym. No it was just normal.

"Funny Tank. You willing to sparr with me?"

"Sure, just tell me when you are ready."

I went through my normal routine, run on the treadmill, lifting weights, doing sit ups and all the other stuff to keep me in form. Tank had helped some of the other guys doing free weights and sparred a little with them, but he had to go easy or they would stand no chance in hell.

"Hey Tank!"

"You ready girl?"

"Yeah just need to stretch and I'm ready to go." We did our stretching exercises and went over to the mat. Sparring with Tank was something I hadn't done before, unless you count the day of my eval when he had helped Ranger to take me down.

While we were sparring I remembered that I never had finished the eval, nor had we discussed the results. None of us won, we where just too equally matched and unless we had to fight for life or death there would never one of us win. When we did our cool down I asked Tank about the eval.

"What were the results on my eval anyway?"

"Huh?" Guess that came out of nowhere.

"The eval I did the day we rescued the hostages?"

"Oh. We discussed them in a short meeting and I've got to tell you, you've got the best results we've ever had on all the offices."

"Wow. What about the battle that was scheduled for that afternoon?"

"After we saw how you handled the situation at the jeweler's store we decided that this might be enough to test your skills. You took a man out while doing a flying leap, deactivated a bomb and did the medic thing. We saw that you were up to speed, maybe even more than we are. That was enough for us to decide that we didn't need to play battle at the warehouse. You can handle yourself in real life and never forgot about your team. All the guys were truly impressed on how you handled the situation, how you hold it together until you could allow yourself to break down. I've seen a lot during my days in the army and I've seen a lot of supposed tough guys who couldn't handle that much. You had to watch the man you truly love go down in front of you and you kept going. And we all were proud of you Moxie."

My eyes were a little misty after this speech. It meant a lot to me that the guys accepted me and were impressed with me, never questioning my skills like other people do.

"Thanks Tank, that means a lot to me. Before all you guys came into my life my dad and later Ranger were the only ones to really support me. Sure, the girls tried, but they never really understood me, not like you guys do, because you know where I'm coming from."

Tank hugged me to him. He knew how hard it had always been for me to life my live how I wanted to, not like my mom wanted me to.

We parted ways to take a shower and then I went to check who of the guys would come with us to dinner at my parents.

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Saturday had finally come around. Mom had decided that a barbecue was in order so we had to be at her doormat at precisely 4pm and no second later. She thought it would be nice for dad to talk with the RangeMen about their time in the army, about his time in the army.

After I had only a few responses to the mail I had sent around, asking who was coming with us my mom personally came to RangeMan. She shooed everyone into the biggest conference room and lectured them. I've never seen the guys that pale. Everyone had to step up to her and tell her when he had the last homecooked meal with a member of his family. Everyone who couldn't remember or had no family at all had to appear or would have to take Grandma Mazur for a viewing. In the end most of the guys had to come along and everyone else who wanted to come was welcome, too.

And she demanded some color, but somehow I doubted I would see anything different than black and army colors. Even I was going to wear cargoes and a shirt in the same color. We were on call, so in case of an emergency I wouldn't have the time to change from a cute little skirt in full attire. Another thing that had changed since I left for training.

When my mom had left Woody approached me. He was one of the guys who had no family.

"Bomber, your mom is something else. I felt like I was back in school and my teacher was about to give me a lecture for misbehaving. All that was missing was her checking that we had washed our ears and to check our nails for dirt under them. I always thought your Grandma was scary, but your mom is a very close second."

"You have no idea."

Vince wasn't too sure about her either.

"She would make a good drill sergeant. Only thing missing would be the trill whistle and the demand to make push ups." We all had to laugh at this.

Ranger had arranged for contract workers to run the office and in case of an emergency we were only 20 minutes away. Consequences were there would be no alcohol for us.

I had asked mom if there was something we should bring, but she just told me she had everything there. Val would help her with the preparations.

We left at RangeMan at 3.30 sharp so we wouldn't be late. Looking back in the rear view mirror we made quite a sight. Five SUVs with three people each, we looked like we wanted to invade a country or something. I was riding with Ranger and Tank, sitting in the backseat. Machos.

"Bombshell, who's gonna be there?"

"My parents, Grandma and date of the day, my sister with her crew and we."

"What about Marry Lou?" Ranger wanted to know.

"Nope, wasn't invited. She's my best friend, but isn't considered a part of the family."

"Why did she invite my whole company?"

"She knows that I consider you and your guys family, so you belong to the family. And you've saved my ass too often to not be invited. Even if she won't ever say this, but she's eternally grateful for this, even if she needed a lot of time to accept me for who I am and that I like hanging around you."

"Well. Might be a good explanation."

"Good enough for me. Where the hell is she gonna seat us?" Tank, curious as ever.

"It's a barbecue, we'll sit outside. There's plenty of space in the backyard."

"When Grandma has a date, does this mean our asses are safe?" Going of to face rocket launchers and drug lords, but scared of a little old lady.

"Probably not. I told you guys to wear a cup. It's not my fold when you're too stubborn to listen to me."

"It's okay, Babe. We'll survive it. But you'll owe me."

"Eek, that was way too much information, boss. I don't want to know what you two are doing when there's nobody around to chaperon."

Before we could get any further into this discussion we pulled up at my parents'. Val's minivan was already parked in the driveway, but there was for once nobody standing at the porch to welcome us. The guys pulled up behind us and we gathered on the sidewalk. The guys didn't look too happy, so a little pep talk was in order.

"Okay guys. Watch your weapons. Under no circumstances is anyone of you to show or give Grandma a gun, stun gun or whatever you might be carrying. And try to hide the weapons from my mom, she doesn't like them. You already know my dad, but I don't know Grandma's date. You know Mary Alice, Angie will just be a well behaved little lady. Just ignore Kloughn's babbling and Val's rude comments and you will be fine. And try to stay out of Grandma's way touching wise. You ready to go?" There followed a round of grunts. I took it as yes. "Let's go. Have fun."

I couldn't help but chuckle at these bunch of guys. Willing to give their life for their country, lived through hell and survived without major lasting problems, but afraid of my family.

Cal spoke up. "It's easy for you Bomber, you know what to expect."

"And that's where you are all mistaken. You come here, suffer through an evening with my crazy family and afterwards your life is your own again. I have to put up with this since the day I was born, and I will have to put up with it for a long time to come. I'm expected for dinner on a regular basis, whereas you guys have to survive it once, maybe twice a year."

You could see the understanding dawn, it was like watching the light bulbs go on. They had finally understood why I tried to avoid dinner at my parents' whenever possible. But I was sure that they would understand me even better when we were back at RangeMan.

We made our way into the house, but nobody was there, so we went through the kitchen into the backyard. Well, I sent the guys in the backyard. I made a stop in the kitchen to have a chat with mom and Val, who were preparing salads and stuff.

"Guys, go out. My dad is standing at the barbecue and the girls are outside, too."

They walked out and left me with my mom and sister. Hooray. Not!

"Hey Mom, Val. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"How nice of you to ask after we are finished with the preparations. It's too high for my little sister to prepare a meal."

"Val, what's wrong with you? You are always nagging me, so what's going on."

"I've no idea. I just have these mood swings lately."

Well, that was getting really annoying, because apparently she only had them when I was around or concerned. I had talked with MA (Mary Alice) about it, and she had told me that Val only got this cranky when she was talking about me.

"Are you pregnant or just jealous? I won't take your crap any longer. Tell me what's wrong with you and we can talk about it or leave me the hell alone. Where's Grandma and who's her date?"

"They're upstairs in her room. She invited one of the Knights of Columbus. I've no idea what his name is, I think something like Bud, but I'm not sure. They have been necking since he arrived. It was getting disgusting so I sent them up to her room." I had to chuckle. Mom was treating her own mother like a teenager. Cute.

Phew, safe until dinner is ready.

"Do you need me here?"

"No, dear, go outside to great your dad. He's been looking forward to this since I went to RangeMan to invite these shy guys." I couldn't help but snort. These guys could be described with a lot of things, but shy was definitely not along the lines I would think. Some of them were downright players. When they went out and didn't leave with at least two different girls for a little action during the evening they were thinking they might be loosing their touch. I had seen them work their magic. Sure, not all of them were like this, but Lester definitely made the top of that list.

When I walked out I found Dad standing behind the barbecue, watching our steaks ad salmon. Next to him were all the guys assembled. They looked relaxed, but when you knew them you could see that they were high alert. They were all heavily armed, just as me. Ranger was sitting with his back to the wall, hell, the entire core team was. But what had me smiling was MA. She was sitting on Ranger's lap and happily chatting with the guys. She had got to know most of them since we had started her self defense training and was pretty comfortable around them. The guys adored her, she was like mini-me.

I walked up to my dad and kissed him on the cheek. "Hi Daddy, how's it going?"

"Moxie. Your Grandma drives me crazy." Even my dad called my Moxie sometimes. He was really proud of what I had accomplished and he knew how hard it had been for me, so it meant a lot to me.

"Mom told me about it."

"I'm happy you are here and that you brought the guys with you."

"Did she tell you how she got them to come?"

"No?" This had picked his interest.

"Maybe some of the guys will tell you. It's quite a story, but it's not mine to tell."

Angie and Lisa were milling around, admiring flowers and Angie lecturing Lisa for getting dirty. Just like always.

I walked over to Ranger to kiss him and then settled down on Tank's lap. He was sitting directly beside Ranger, but his lap was occupied so I took the next best. Tank didn't mind, and he sure was comfy.

Dinner was finally ready and we settled down to eat. MA sat between me and Bobby, her second favorite of the Merry Men. Val didn't like it.

"Mary Alice. What are you doing sitting over there. You should sit with your family and not with your aunt and one of her co-workers." She spit the word co-worker out with disgust, something I didn't like at all, but before I could say something harsh Bobby spoke up.

"Mrs Kloughn, your daughter is old enough to decide where she wants to sit during dinner, and you should accept and respect her decision." His tone was stern, determined. Val didn't know that MA had the whole company behind her, but if she kept this up she was about to find out.

Val was bitching around, but she soon figured out that there was nobody on her side who would speak up for her, so she just stopped. After this we had fun. The guys and Dad were talking. MA had deserted Ranger and was now snuggled up to Bobby, so I took her place. I felt warm and safe in Ranger's arms, just like always. Sometime the conversation drifted to missions, missions they had done so far and missions ahead of us.

"Ranger, what's up with leaving for DC?"

"I don't know Frank. All we know is that we originally had to go to sign Steph's contract and I have to re-sign mine, but they requested the core team and told me that we would meet the sixth member of the team there. I've no idea how they already knew that we had decided to make Steph a member of the core team."

"Core team?"

"Oops, kinda forgot to tell you. I'm head of Bond Enforcement and Staffing. And a little bit of the smaller stuff."

"Wow. Ellen did you hear this? Steph made it into the core team." My dad was glowing with pride and it made me happy.

"Anything you know about this mission yet?"

"We've no idea."

"Dad I will make sure to call as soon as we know the details. We don't even know how long we will be gone yet."

Not long after we made our way back to RangeMan. Grandma had been too occupied with her date to do any harm to the Merry Men and we had fun. The guys had the pleasure of a family dinner, my mom had had a bunch of hungry ex- army guys to feed and Ranger and I were just happy to get home. Alone at last. Time for more pleasurable activities.


	25. Chapter 24

_Thanks for the great reviews, I appreciated them very much!_

_Don't own them, don't make any profit and I'll probably return them unharmed._

_WARNING: SMUT_

**Chapter 24**

We had made our way through an extended shower into the bedroom. We were kissing, tangled up in each other and Ranger was walking me towards the bed. Before my head could hit the pillow my pager went high wire. It was an SOS call from Manny, one of the few guys with family in the area and therefore had escaped my mother's claws.

I immediately started dressing while calling Manny back to get the rundown of the situation, Ranger right behind me.

Apparently Rodrigo Malesquez, one of our more elusive skips, had been spotted. Ha had been convicted for rape and attempted murder of his girlfriend. He was determined not to go back to jail, I was determined to deliver him and cut the judge's balls who had let him out on bond in the progress. His rap sheet would make any gang banger proud and he got bail!

Manny and Ty, a new hire, had spotted him at his girlfriend's mother's house, but they requested back up. All the other teams in the field were occupied and unable to provide the help, so that left me and my partner, as I was on call for the weekend. I promised to be there ASAP and we got ready to leave.

The switch from sexy and aroused Steph to high alert and concentrated Moxie was only a matter of seconds, the dressing and arming took a few more minutes, but stood in no comparison to the time I would have needed before my training. We suited up, even wearing our vests and went over to the address Manny had given me.

When we arrived the both of them were leaning against the side of the car, smiling broadly at us.

"Hey guys." Ranger just nodded at them, they nodded back.

"Where's the skip?" I wanted to know.

Manny just nodded his head toward the backseat of their SUV.

"What happened?"

TY was grinning now. "Right after we disconnected Malesquez came stumbling out the door. The old lady was yelling at him, but he could barely walk, let alone comprehend what she was telling him. Anyways, he was so drunk he needed the whole sidewalk. He was walking toward us, but when he was right up to my door I swung it open forcefully, catching him. Knocked him on his ass and he passed out." Both of them were laughing now, enjoying their easy capture.

"We are sorry we had you come out here." Manny looked truly sorry, but I wasn't angry with him.

"Better safe than sorry. I prefer coming out to find the skip in the backseat than getting a call that two of us have been shot and I might like to visit them in the hospital."

"Yup." Yep, that was Ranger, greatest conversationalist ever.

"Can you handle it from here? Do you have the papers?" The guys nodded, we nodded and everyone got into the cars. Great, I was sounding more like Ranger every day I was around him.

Ranger was driving on the way back and without the pressure of an upcoming apprehension we talked, well more like I talked.

"You know, you're awfully chatty tonight."

Ranger just grunted in response.

"What's up?" He grabbed my hand and placed it against his straining erection.

"That's up."

"Oh."

"Yes. They called us for nothing when we could have been making love."

"I still prefer going out to assist in a takedown that has already taken place than making trips to the hospital or worse to the morgue to identify somebody."

"Yeah." By now we had pulled into the garage and I was suddenly dead tired on my feet. There went the plans for some bedroom action with Batman.

Ranger carried me into the elevator and from there into the bedroom. He stripped me down and tucked me in, but it wouldn't have been Ranger,had he let me going directly to sleep. He went to deposit our weapons in the safe and brought the vests to their place, then stripped down and joined me in bed, spooning me from behind.

His cock was settled against my buttocks as his arms looped around me. He was nuzzling my neck, breathing kisses against my neck and shoulder. My hormones roared to life as his hands began to wander. His right hand moved up to cup my breast, teasing my nipples, while his left hand wandered down to cup my mound. His fingers were sliding through the wetness his ministrations were causing, circling around my hard and aching nub and dipping into me.

"Don't make a sound or I'll stop, Babe." Damn, he felt to damn good and he knew how hard it was for me to keep quiet.

My nipples were hard and my clit was throbbing and I could feel my orgasm approach. I was close and he knew it.

We were lying on our right sides with our knees bend a little. His left hand moved down from my wetness, down my thighs until he reached my knee. He took my left leg in his hand, bringing it back over his own legs. He was teasing my opening with his cock now, his head at my entrance but never entering me. I couldn't encourage him with words, so my actions would have to do.

My hips were bucking now, trying to get him inside me. It didn't work but he got the hint. He tilted his hips a little and slid into me to the hilt, meeting no resistance. He brought his left hand back up to tease my clit lightly.

His strokes were long and gentle, drawing the pleasure out for both of us. My hips were moving to meet his and slowly we approached our peak, falling over into mind numbing bliss together.

This was a different experience for me, so gentle, caring and loving.

We both whispered "I love you." and drifted off to sleep, still joined.

I woke up the next morning to incredible sensations. We were lying in the same position we went to sleep in and Ranger was carefully thrusting into me. The delicious heat was building slowly, so slowly in my stomach as he was arousing me only with his strokes, keeping his hands to himself.

After was seemed like an eternity we finally climaxed, a soft but incredible orgasm overtook me, making me shake violently, but like last night I wasn't allowed to make any noises.

It was always a good idea to listen, and more importantly to obey, to Ranger in bed. I had made the mistake once to moan when he told me not to make any noises. I had been pretty close to my orgasm and so was he, but he pulled out of me, had me watching him jerking off and wasn't allowed to masturbate myself. I had gone to sleep really unsatisfied that night.

When I had a look at Ranger's alarm clock i saw it was already 10am.

"Morning Batman." Incredible sex had the ability to wake me up really quick, even better than caffeine via IV.

"Morning."

Ranger pulled out of me and hauled me around so we were facing each other.

"Ready to get the day started?"

"Depends. Who's gonna be at your parent's tonight?"

"Momma wanted to make it a family reunion, but I could convince her that her, Poppa and Abuela should be enough to send you into shock. No need to involve all my crazy siblings and their even crazier families. Didn't want them to scare you away." He was smiling at me, reassuring me that everything would be fine.

"You survived dinner at my parents' several times and it didn't scare you away. You even survived the close attention Grandma payed you."

"Your Grandma is nothing compared to Abuela. Your granny only pinches guys, whereas mine pinches everybody."

"Oh." Scary thought. That led me to another scary topic. The upcoming mission. Okay, I wasn't scared of it, but I had no idea what would happen, I was unprepared. I had become so accustomed to plan everything ahead that I was a little apprehensive. Ranger read my mind like he always did.

"What are you so worried about, Babe?"

"I've no idea what to expect of the mission. That kinda scares me." Ranger cradled me in his arms and then began talking.

"I know how you feel. That's your first mission. Sure, you went with TK and his team, but you were additional to the team they had planned anyways. That's why they could risk it not to tell you the whole purpose of the mission. You were important to the team and the result of the mission but they could probably have managed without you. The mission we are now going on you are an integral and very important member of the team. We need you to get this mission done."

I nodded. I had managed to follow his reasoning so far.

"Another factor is, we don't what the mission will be, how long we'll be out whoever knows where and where we have to go. We all ask us these questions, but it has become second nature to us. We are used to get a call, pack our stuff and go. That's all new for you. We all had years of training before we went on our first real mission, whereas you made the training in a little more than half a year with amazing results."

He squeezed me a little tighter before he continued.

"What's a little unusual with this mission is that they told us several days in advance that we'll go. Normally you get twenty minutes before you have to be ready to go. And they tell you up front what they expect you to do and who will go with you. Personally, I prefer the twenty minutes notice than knowing so long in advance. You just have no time to worry."

I nodded, knowing where he was coming from.

"They told us in advance this time so we would have enough time to prepare you properly. How to pack your back pack and stuff. The guys and I can do it blindfolded, it's second nature to us, but it's new for you. That's also the reason we store our equipment always at the same place. We aren't neat freaks be choice, but it's absolutely necessary."

"Can you help me packing my stuff?"

"That's what we gonna do tomorrow. We'll have the usual Monday morning meeting where we'll assign who's gonna be boss while we're gone and stuff like this. Then we pack and make a list of things you'll need to buy. Part of the things will Ella be able to buy, but we'll make a trip to an army store to purchase the rest. You need a license to shop there, which Ella doesn't have. The guys will accompany us for this as the last stop of the day will be with the RangeMan attorney to update the wills. Don't worry, that's standard policy. I force all of my guys to do this before they leave for a government job."

He gave ma a few moments to let it all sink in.

"Feel better?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

"Everything for you, Babe."

We stayed like this for a little while, taking strength from each other. Until my stomach growled.

"Let's eat. Ella should've brought something up by now."

We went, naked as the day we were born into the kitchen to have lunch. Ella had prepared us a healthy meal, but had added a slice of chocolate cake with whipped cream for me.

I was eating my dessert and moaning like I usually did when Ella had cooked for us. Before I could blink Ranger had hauled me onto the kitchen counter, kissing me senseless, his fingers playing with my nipples. His right hand was wandering down to my clit. He was halfway there when I heard someone clear their throat. I was frozen in place. The rest of the core team was standing in the kitchen, watching us with amused expressions on their faces. Ranger hadn't noticed them yet.

"Relax, Babe."

"Uhm, the rest of the team is watching us."

"What?" He was suddenly was frozen, too.

"The whole core team is assembled in our kitchen."

"Fuck."

"You got that right, Boss. We thought you would be up by now." Thanks, Tank.

"I think the boss is up." Lester's comment caused all three to chuckle.

Thankfully Ranger's brain had kicked in again.

"Out in the foyer with you. We'll call you in once we're finished!" Ranger was issuing a command, so they walked out like the good little boys they were, once in a while.

"Hopefully finished getting dresses and not finished having sex." Bobby was mumbling under his breath.

We rushed through the bathroom and closet, getting dressed in record time. Aroused state forgotten. We settled down on the couch and called the boys back in.

"That was quick." Lester, smartass of the company.

"We can be quick when the situation calls for it." Ranger and his constant innuendos.

"Enough kids. You already talked about the mission, what to expect?" Tank wanted to know.

"A bit." We all slipped into combat mode. This topic was too important to joke around.

"Okay. What kind of holsters are you used to?"

"Ankle, shoulder, back."

"Ever worked with a thigh holster?"

"Only for a few days before the mission."

"Good. I want you to wear it tonight. Even to dinner at my parents'."

"Your parents, Tank?"

"They kind of adopted me, but that's a story for another occasion."

Bobby was concerned "Won't Momma flip?"

"Nah, we'll explain the reason and she should be okay."

"After we get the lecture about our jobs and how dangerous it is. How we should find us a nice woman to marry, but that no sane woman would put up with the crap."

"Yeah, or does the same shit we do." We all had to laugh at this.

I should give my mom her number. They could write their lectures together, you know, get a little diversity in it." I had said it with a straight face, but my comment had all of us nearly rolling on the floor.

"Bombshell, you're evil."

"Hey, I know what I'm talking about. I know the lecture I get, would be nice to hear something new every once in a while. I don't even need my mom anymore, I could lecture myself without problems should ever the need arise."

"That bad, huh?" Lester looked sympathetic.

"You guys have no idea. I've got a feeling someone brainwashed her since I went to Mexico. I'm not sure she isn't a replacement the aliens sent me to cut me some slack. And they probably abducted and switched Val and Morelli as well."

"Okay enough, back to the task at hand. Moxie, how do you want to handle it with medic stuff?" Bobby asked me, but Ranger answered for me.

"I was thinking you play medic and Moxie goes sniper/ bomb specialist. You never know what you'll need."

"Fine with me, but I'll need to do some serious shopping for this. And I've no idea where to buy the supplies."

"Your sniper riffle is in storage and the other stuff we can purchase at the army store."

We talked about the mission, assigned the tasks and discussed who would take our places here. After some time we were finished and split up to get ready for dinner at his parents'.

We showered together and went to get dressed.

"How should I dress?"

"Casual. Jeans and a sweater is fine. Remember the holster, so a skirt isn't the best idea."

I dressed in jeans and a nice lightblue woolen sweater with heels. Ranger was dressed in black jeans and a cream colored henley. My heels were a nice contrast to the holsters I was wearing.

I was a little nervous about meeting Ranger's parents.

"Babe, there's no need to worry. They already love you."

We went down to the garage where the guys were already waiting for us. We piled into the SUV. Tank wanted me to ride shotgun, but it was a tight fit with me in the back. Tank in the back would be a little bit to much. In the end I could convince Tank to ride shotgun and I was sitting in the back between Lester and Bobby.

"So guys, tell me what to expect."

"They'll expect you to call them Momma, Poppa and Abuela. They'll adopt you, so you'll get the lectures like you were one of my siblings."

"Watch your ass around Abuela. Sitting is always a little difficult when she was around."

"When we arrive Momma will hug us and then kiss you, but that's normal for us Cubans."

"Oh, and I'm Ric and Tank is Pierre. Don't use our street names. She'll try to kill you. It's bad enough that we go in there with our holsters."

"That's okay. I can defend myself."

Their banter went back and forth, effectively distracting me. Before I knew what was going on we where standing in front of a beautiful house, in an area similar to the Burg, but apparently mostly Cubans where living there.

We were walking up to the door and Ranger was ringing the bell.

"Come on in." Someone was shouting through the door.

We went in and found Momma in the kitchen, along with Abuela.

"Stephanie, how nice to finally meet you." She came rushing towards me, crushing me in a hug and kissing my cheeks.

"Mrs. Manoso, nice to meet you, too."

"You can call me Momma, everyone here does. And that's Abuela, she doesn't speak English."

"That's no problem, I speak Spanish quite well. Part of my training."

"Don't tell me you work the same stupid job like these stooges do." Momma's voice was getting stern, the voice every mom in this world used to lecture her kids. And now she was lecturing in Spanish, as all the guys were apparently speaking Spanish.

The guys had been right. Once she noticed all the holsters we all we wearing, even without weapons noticeable, she got ready to lecture us. Fortunately she was interrupted by her husband. Ranger tugged me over to introduce me to his dad.

"Babe, my dad. Poppa, that's Stephanie Plum, Moxie, the love of my life." He hugged and kissed me, too.

Apparently the interruption had Momma caused to forget about her lecture, but no-one of us was going to complain.

Dinner passed with pleasant conversation. Until we started talking about my mishaps. Ranger's parents had heard a lot about me, thanks to tattletale Lester. He had told them about everything I had blown up during my career. Ranger's parents would ask "Is it true that...?" and than ask about one of my mishaps, but somehow Ranger managed to tell the stories in a way that made me looking like some super competent bounty hunter. It was clearly visible how proud he was. Our good mood lasted until Momma led the conversation toward the mission topic, but we managed to evade the worst.

Dessert was tres leche cake, a Cuban speciality, just like dinner. Even Ranger had a piece, but I was moaning, capturing the attention of everybody.

"Ric, it's always nice to enjoy dessert that much."

Ranger was muttering under his breath "Unlike you do." I placed my hand on his thigh.

We talked a little longer until I started yawning. It had been a long day and the next weeks would probably be even worse.

We said goodbye and made our way home. Lester and Bobby made nice pillows. That was one of the things I didn't have to learn during my training.

"Sleep whenever you get the chance to do so."

_A/N: That was probably the last chapter for quite some time. My laptop died on a short circuit with a royal KABOOM, so it depends on my little sister's mercy and generosity how often I can update. Depends how often I'm allowed to use her laptop. It will take three weeks until I get my own laptop back. :( sniff_

_What kind of mission do you guys want to see? Let me know!_


	26. Chapter 25

_Standard disclaimer applies._

_No warning for this one!_

_Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed so far._

**Chapter 25**

Lester and Bobby made nice pillows, so I just caught up on some sleep on the way home. Sunday had been a long day and Monday promised to be even longer.

We arrived at the office and I woke slightly, but not enough to actually walk, so Ranger carried me again. This time he even let me sleep once he had me tucked in.

I was woken up by our alarm clock at 4.45. Damn, another one of those short nights. We went down to the gym for our run and workout. We used the treadmills, doing a slightly slower pace than usual so we could talk without problems.

"What handguns are you comfortable with, Babe?"

"I've worked with everything the army uses, so there won't be any problems."

"Okay, that makes it easier. You'll have to carry quite some stuff with you additional to the things everybody has, as you'll bring your rifle and all the bomb stuff. You can ask Slice what you should buy. He was a bomb specialist in the army."

"I don't have a backpack and sleeping bag and stuff. What I used in Mexico was TK's. He uses it for trainees."

"Sure you do. I already bought the sleeping bag and TK sent me your measurements so I could get you a suitable backpack. I had it custom made, so it suits you as good as possible. I had it made for your slimmer frame, but you'll get the same amount of stuff into it than into any regular backpack. It's actually an army issued one but we adapted the strap system. You couldn't carry mine for a long time, it would hurt too much."

"Thanks."

"Stuff like this is pretty important for the outcome of a mission. You have to stay as alert and functionable as possible and shooting with sore shoulders is mostly dangerous for yourself, but also for your team. Especially when it's the sniper with the sore shoulders. By the way, do you have all the necessary shots?"

"Yeah. TK made sure of it. I got shots against diseases I didn't even know existed. And I went to my gyn's office on Friday to get my depot shot. She wasn't happy about the short interval, but in the end I got it." No sense in denying it since Brett had accompanied me when I got the first one and he had told pretty much everybody. I thought even Ella knew what kind of contraception we used.

"You actually thought about your depot shot?" Ranger was looking at me like he couldn't believe what I had just said.

"Blame it on your employees. They kept nagging me to get it, because we don't know how long we'll be gone and the both of us might want to get freaky while we're away. I think that's about it what Lester said."

"They what?"

"Yup, reminded me of my birth control. Seems like they think that one Bombshell is enough."

Tank had come up behind us. I had seen him in the mirrored wall in front of us, so I wasn't surprised when he spoke up. It however surprised me what he said. "The both of you are a force to reckon with. I can't count the times Bombshell snuck out on us when we were on bodyguard detail, and your temper is another thing to discuss, Ranger. I wouldn't want to babysit a child of you. A combination of both of you would be the death of every nanny, babysitter and kindergarden teacher."

Tank was probably right, but also a little rude.

We finished our run and then went through our workout routine, including tossing each other around the mat. When we were drenched with sweat it was 7.30. Time to get a move on.

We went through our morning routine, consistent of shower and breakfast. I got ready for work, hair in a ponytail, cargoes and shirt, boots, finished to go. I had tested the commando thing, but wasn't comfortable without undies, so I would have to carry some more.

We went down to the conference room at precisely 8.30. The Monday morning meetings were always important, but this one was especially important. We had to assign the tasks while the core team was away.

Tank started the meeting, but I was responsible for Staffing and the boys had decided that it was my job to assign the tasks. I had no idea why they decided that, but I had no chance to say no to any of them. I didn't know the guys that good, so i had asked the rest of my team for advise. We has decided together and I was about to announce our decisions. It was the last topic of the meeting.

"Good morning everyone. As you all know the core team is leaving tomorrow for a mission. We don't know how long we'll be gone, but somebody has to handle business while we're abroad. We have decided that Hal with lead the business, with Ram as his second in command. Everyone is to follow their order, you know how it works. Questions?"

The guys shook their heads to indicate no.

"Alright, meeting adjurned, core team, Hal and Ram stay, please."

The guys piled out, leaving only the core team and our bosses for the time being behind. Ranger spoke up.

"You guys know how it works. We trust you to handle any situation that may come up. If you feel you can't handle it, don't hesitate to call in help. That may happen in form of contract workers or help from the offices. Don't feel obligated to handle everything yourself. Tell the guys to do their own searches and reports, but assign tasks. We handle day to day with five people, but we leave it to the two of you. We trust you to handle everything!"

After their pep-talk they left. They weren't too happy about their job at the moment.

We split up to pack. Ranger and I headed up to seven. He had called Ella to let her know what she should bring up from storage, so we wouldn't have to search ourselves. Storage was another of Ella resorts. She has a really good system to organize all the stuff and find what she's looking for without problems, but if you don't know the system you'll find nothing at all.

"Okay Babe. I'm gonna pack my bag first and you can watch and then we're gonna pack yours together."

I nodded and Ranger started walking around the apartment to gather everything he would need, explaining as he went.

"You can pack a tooth brush, paste and a bar of soap. And only as much girlie stuff as absolutely necessary! No shower gel and shampoo. It can ruin everything else and it's useless. With the bar you can wash your clothes once in a while as well. No extra cosmetic and hair staff, only the bare essentials. Don't worry about your appearance, worry about the weight you've to carry. Nobody will care. We'll treat you with a day at the spa to get rid of the stubble." He grinned at me and kissed me shortly.

He packed a shaver as well, but none for me. Damn. Next he went into the closet.

"Undies is gonna be your decision. Only take the practical stuff, no lace. Needs to be durable and pack only sports bras. Makes it easier should we've to make a run for it. We've special cargoes for missions. They don't rip as easy and have more pockets so you won't have problems storing everything that's important and using it in a heartbeat. I'd Ella buy you some. As for shirts pack some longsleeves, a really warm sweater and a few tops. And you should pack probably some sun blocker. It's awfully hot where they send us normally and I don't want to have to look at a lobster the whole time, but it can get pretty cold at night. "

I tried to keep track of everything he told me, thinking that I would snuggle up to him and trust him to keep me warm.

"As for shoes you're gonna wear your boots. You can bring a second pair, just stuff it with the socks Ella bought you. As for the ammo pack a lot. I don't know how long we'll be gone so I've no idea how much we should pack, but I prefer carrying an extra pound of ammo and bringing it home with me than running through some God forbidden jungle without any ammo left. That's an experience I made once and I don't want to relive it. Was a close call at that time."

I wanted to ask him about it, but he looked like he had shrunk back into himself, reliving the fear he had. It wasn't a good time to ask, so I let it slide.

"We're gonna buy you a new utility belt. The one you're using is fine for bounty hunting and all the urban stuff we normally do, but for missions you need another one. It's got extra pockets for a first aid kit and some other tools we're gonna introduce you to during the mission. Before I forget. I would you like to let Bobby implant a small GPS unit. We all have one. Makes it easier when we need to be picked up or the case goes FUBAR and we get split. We only turn them on when we leave for a mission, so there won't be any impact to your normal life. And we all carry small monitors to keep track of each other should we need to go separate ways for one reason or another."

"Okay, when can he do it?"

"Before we go shopping. He'll implant it close to your hairline at the back of your neck. It's made in a way the wands they use at airports don't pick it up. As long as you don't tell, nobody knows you're wearing it. Government doesn't like it but I don't give a shit. We've lost some really good men in the Rangers just because they didn't know where to pick them up and didn't want to send a search party. Bastards."

He finished packing and we started on mine.

"Do you have a set to sharpen your knives?"

"Nope."

"Write it on the list to buy and add all the bomb stuff. I had Slice make you a list. Most of it means nothing to me, but I'm pretty sure you can make sense of it. Go get your Kevlar, it's hanging in the back corner behind my suits."

I went to retrieve the vests and had another question.

"Uh, Ranger?"

He just looked at me, raising his eyebrow in question.

"What am I gonna wear to tomorrows meeting?"

"Pant suit. We'll go in like the business people we are. As we don't know who the sixth member of the team is they'll give us some time to get acquainted, so you'll have time to change to badass. That's what you are asking, isn't it?"

I nodded. I was nervous as hell about this whole mission thing, but that's what I had been working for so hard, so I wasn't going to chicken out. Get your head out of your ass Stephanie!

We finished packing and had made quite a list what we needed to buy, but Ranger said it was all necessary and RangeMan would pay for it. Who was I to argue?

"What about parachutes and climbing gear and stuff?"

"We'll drive to DC. It's not that long a drive, so we'll pack everything we might need into the cars and after they told us what we're gonna do we'll select what'll need and the rest goes back. We'll take one of the cars for seven people, so there won't be a problem. Don't worry too much Babe. Everything is gonna be fine, but don't drive yourself crazy before we even leave for DC."

We finished packing and set out to find the rest of the troops. They were on the 5th floor, munching cookies.

"I sure you left me some. I remember being it a close call when I came here before I left for Corrales." The guys had to chuckle, remembering one of my weaker moments.

Lester gave his five cents worth. "Yeah, Binkie was pretty disappointed. After he got you out of your car there weren't any cookies left for him. We had already munched them."

"Bobby, when can you do the implant?" I wanted to get it over with.

"Just come with me. Only takes a sec. Guys, we'll be right back."

Bobby took me to a room on the third floor which looked suspiciously like a doctor's office, complete with equipment for smaller surgeries.

"Bobby, how come you have this offices and every time I needed stitches Ranger took me to the hospital?"

"They'll give you more painkillers. I only give out what's absolutely necessary, so when you've problems with cramps you should pack your own stuff, because I sure as hell won't give you anything for it." Typical male, no idea what it means to have cramps.

He proceeded to chip me. I kinda felt like a dog at the vets, getting a chip so the ownership could be determined, but all the guys had one and it was for our own security, so I didn't complain. I couldn't feel a thing when Bobby did his thing. Probably some kind of numbing ointment involved.

"Is there anything else I need to know, special meds you need to take with you?"

"Nothing I could think of, but you'll probably need a lot of stuff for sutures on me." That caused him to chuckle.

"Only you, Bombshell."

We went back to the rest and then made our way to the army shop to buy everything on the list. Slice had given me his, so I could select all the little things you need to built a cute little bomb, used for distractions or to open gates and stuff. Nothing too serious. Okay, bombs are always serious, but you can't carry stuff around to build something really big.

We bought a lot of stuff and the guys had to make several trips to the car to get it all out when a thought struck me, a very scary thought.

"Guys?"

"What has you worried now, Babe?"

"What are we gonna eat? I can't eat twigs and bark. And I need sugar." I was talking myself into a panic right now, but I couldn't help it.

"We'll take some essentials with us. That's what Tank is for, he'll be like our fighting mule, making sure we eat properly, but we'll also hunt and search for eatable berries. We'll eat what nature gives us, but you'll get some energy bars, but you should be careful with them. Once you ate them they are gone. No shopping for us.

We completed shopping and made our way to the lawyer. I had no will to make. All I had were Rex and the money in my bank account from the mission and working at RangeMan. We started my will as it would be the quickest to make. I decided to give Val all the money for college founds for the girls and Rex would continue to live at RangeMan. I zoned out when the guys updated their wills. It was a topic I didn't even want to think about. We all had to come back fine.

Ranger and I spent the night cuddled up to each other. We didn't make love. We were just holding each other, taking strength and serenity from the other. I fell asleep in a protective cocoon of Ranger.

We had planned the drive to DC to take 4 hours. We had to be at the office at 11am, so we started at 5am. I rushed through my morning routine, desperately trying to get my hair tamed. I didn't even consider using make up. Hard question was what to wear. I knew that I wouldn't look my best after the drive so I decided to go in sweat pants and one of Ranger's shirt and change before we went in to sign the contracts.

We had packed the car on Monday evening and they pretty fast noticed that one car wouldn't cut it, so we took two SUVs and two contract workers. The contractors were the designated drivers so we could all get a little sleep. Ranger and I were sitting in one of the SUVs with a guy I didn't know driving and Tank riding shot gun. I snuggled up to Ranger and promptly fell asleep with him caressing my back.

I didn't remember anything about the drive. I fell asleep in Trenton and was woken up when we pulled up into the parking lot.

"Where am I supposed to change?"

"Here!"

"What?" I didn't think I had understand him correctly.

"Get used to it, Bombshell. There won't always be a tree to change behind. And we've seen it all. Remember the kitchen."

Damn, he had me there. Ranger was just smirking at me. Bastard.

I was wearing one of the pant suits Ella had picked up for me. Black with a light blue silk shirt and great FMP to go with it. And I was wearing pretty lingerie. Tank had picked up on it when I changed, but one glare from Ranger and he had shut up.

We had a little time before we had an appointment so we decided to get some proper breakfast. It had been to early to eat when we left Trenton.

Breakfast was loud and funny. Our waitress had a few problems with all the gorgeous men in suits on our table, but she managed to bring us what we had ordered without dumping her tray, although she was obviously drooling. I was proud of her.

After breakfast we went into the building, announcing for the guy at the front desk who we were and he told us where to go.

We were directed to an office. Ranger obviously knew his way around this building, because I would've been hopelessly lost within minutes.

The guy we were meeting was already waiting for us, although we were early. We shook hands, acknowledging us, but never offering his name. Strange guy. I didn't like him, but I kept my mouth shut. Ranger's contract had been adjusted, so we had the same ones and with the changing of his contract the rest of the core team's contracts were changed as well, so we all had the same conditions. I had no idea why and I didn't ask.

Ranger was doing all the talking for once. I was happy to let him do so. The guy kept looking kinda strange at me, but I guessed they didn't see women around there very often, so it was kinda understandable.

We exchanged pleasantries and he sent us on our way to another office where we would meet the rest of the team. I would get to know my partner.

We stood in front of the door the guy had told us. "You ready, Babe?" He was holding my hand and squeezed slightly.

"As ready as I'll ever be. Let's get this show on the road. I want to meet the guy who's gonna annoy the hell out of me."

"How can you tell?"

"Experience and spidey sense!" He nodded.

Ranger stepped forward and grabbed the door handle.

_Now's your last chance to announce wishes concerning the sixth guy and what kind of mission they are going on! Inspire me with your ideas, please!_


	27. Chapter 26

**WARNING: Serious topic in this chapter!! If you get queasy easily you might not want to read the text between the hyphens. Skip this part if you are easily offended! It's about a rite performed in Africa on women. Disgusting! They just talk about going to Ethiopia to rescue a human rights activist. Major EEW- factor! You won't miss anything important skipping this part.**

**Chapter 26**

Ranger was about to open the door when the guys came walking down the corridor. We waited for them to catch up with us before Ranger knocked sharp once before we entered.

The guy standing there looked slightly familiar, but I couldn't place him. Wait a second. He looked like he could be a Merry Men. He looked like... Lester? They had the same eyes and skin color. I looked at my guys and their eyes appeared to have widened in surprise. And then the oddest thing ever happened. Lester rushed forward and engulfed the guy in a bear hug. What the hell was that about?

"Hey bro, how have you been?" Lester asked the other guy.

"Was back for two days when they called about the mission. Only told me I would be going with four people I know and one new guy."

"Well, that would be girl. Bro, that's Stephanie Plum, or Moxie. Bombshell, that's Marco Santos, my brother, who apparently has no idea how to make a call to let me know he's still under the living."

We were shaking hands when Marco started with the usual shit about being a girl everyone gave me.

"You wanna be Moxie? No way. I've heard about Moxie, but some skinny girl like you? No way?"

He hadn't let go of my hand yet and that was his mistake. I briefly glanced at Ranger, rising my eyebrow a little in question. Ranger tilted his head in a barely noticeable nod, giving me the go ahead. Before Marco could make another smartassed comment I had flipped him onto his back with a knife to his throat. He stared at me in disbelief.

"Shit."

"You got that right. What was the first thing they taught you in basic?"

He tried to get up but I wouldn't let him. He refused to answer.

"Well?" I inquired a little more edgy.

Tank butted in before I could inflict some serious damage to the guy. "Just tell her. She'll get it out of you anyways . Make it easy on yourself before she gets the chance to rough you up." Wise man.

"Never underestimate your opponent, it might get you killed." He admitted a little hesitantly.

"Well, now that that's clear let's get down to business." I replaced the knife in it's holster. I stood up and offered Marco my hand. He took it and I was prepared to counter any sudden attacks but he behaved. For now.

After our little show the rest of the guys moved to greet and do the manly hug-thing with Marco as well.

Ranger moved behind me again as soon as he had greeted Marco and I leaned back into him, assuming our usual position. When we were around each other we often stood like this, assuring each other with the mere presence. We had come too close to loosing each other to many times to count.

"Ric, what's up with the two of you?"

"Love of my life?" Marco's jaw detached from his face, the rest of us chuckled.

"What? Girlfriend? You? Moxie?"

"Wow, your ability to talk in whole sentences is even worse than the rest of the guys'." I could feel Ranger chuckle behind me. He knew what I was talking about.

"Yep. That's my Babe. Kicked my ass when she came back from training. Tank and I had to work together to get her down."

"Shit. You could've told me."

"You deserved it, so don't whine."

Somebody cleared his throat. Huh? There's somebody else in the office? Shit!

Ranger bent down to whisper in my ear. "Don't beat yourself up. He just entered through another door."

Phew. Thank God for ESP. I nodded my thanks at Ranger. I didn't need to tell him, he knew what I meant.

"Lady and Gentlemen, let's get down to business. Please have a seat." I noticed we where standing in a smaller conference room, complete with a big round table and leather seats around and all the cute little technical gizmos scattered throughout the room.

I sat down between Ranger and Tank. I was wondering how they would address Tank. I knew his first name was Pierre, but I also knew he hated this name. That's when I realized I didn't even know his last name.

**-- NOW's your chance to skip!!**

"We want you to go to Ethiopia. Fariba Davoodi Mohajer went there to speak against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). She went off the radar a day before we called you. We know an approximately area where she's held captive. We think they might do it to her, too."

I had heard enough. My stomach was lurching and I felt ill. "Bathroom?"I was panicked. Ranger sensed what was going on and grabbed me, dragging me to the next bathroom. It was the Gems, but I didn't care. I hadn't time to care before I got seriously ill. There went my breakfast. Ranger was holding my hair back and rubbing soothing circles on my back. He held me until the dry heaves stopped.

"Better Babe?"

"Yeah. Some serious shit they are doing there."

"That's why we do what we're doing. We're the good ones to prevent stuff like this. That's what keeps you going on a mission. The knowledge to do something to better the world. There are things in the world that are disgusting, but this practice is purely humiliating for the woman and girls. Fariba went there to try to get the men to think about it. Now we've to go to rescue her. But missions like this I like. I do something that's right. I don't go out and kill some drug lord. I go out to save someone. And when you finished the extraction and everyone is unharmed, it's a great feeling."

"Let's go back to get the details."

We went back to the others. Ranger had his arm around me, silently supporting me. We went in and sat back down.

"You okay, Bombshell?" Bobby looked concerned.

"Getting there." I was still a little shaken, but didn't want them to worry too much.

The Suit continued. "As I said we know an area where she might be held, but you have to work out the exact location and get her out unharmed. We don't care what you do to get her out, just do it. She went in the name of the USA, so it's in our best interest to get her."

Ranger started gathering Intel. "What's the background?"

"Went to a conference in Addis Abeba to talk with the politicians about the topic. That went well, they have basically the same opinion. They are against FGM. After this she decided she needed to visit some small villages to talk to the people. Ask the men why, let the women talk about their experiences, stuff like this. She was supposed to check in once a day, until they got to her."

"Did you let her go alone?" My voice was low and menacing. They knew what she might get into, that's irresponsible behavior.

"We arranged for local guards."

"What? Are you fucking insane? Do you have any idea what you are talking about? Do you know what FGM means? They cut of the clitoris without knocking them out! They don't work sterile! They don't have pain meds. That's torture and it's damn humiliating. You have no idea what that means for a woman and you arrange for local guards? It's the men behind this and you trust local guards? How can people be so stupid? They get stitches down there. Whenever they have sex they are in pain, they can't have a fucking orgasm and you let her go with locals." I was screaming at the guard. He had no idea what they were doing to these women, sitting there, talking calmly about it like we were talking about a c-section in the us.

The Suit tried to interrupt me, but I went right on. "Most of the women die of blood loss or because of the complications afterwards. But do you know why they do this?" Everyone shook their heads. "They do so the women can't experience pleasure during sex. They want to prevent the women sidestepping their husbands. And do you know what they use to do it? Broken class for God's sake. Do you have any idea how much that hurts? They black out and scream themselves hoarse when they do this to the little girls. They are little kids, four years old or slightly older to prepare them for marriage. And you are talking about it like it's some routine like getting stitches. You have no idea what you are talking about." I was in a blind rage. I didn't even realize that I stood up sometime during my rant when I was getting into the Suit's face.

My boys looked a little green after I had explained the more human form of FGM. There exist forms that are even worse, cutting off more flesh, suturing more.

"Now I understand why you went to loose breakfast. I might follow the example." Even Tank was looking green. And I felt ill again, but I stomped the feeling down.

"Any reason why she couldn't get guards like us? I would've gone to accompany her without complaints. You do know that I prefer preventing. I hate it to clear stuff up some dickhead is responsible for." Ranger was fuming, as well as the others. I don't know what they thought was worse. Have to undergo the procedure or having it hanging it over Fariba's head.

"We thought it wouldn't be necessary. But could we get back to the topic without any further talking about FGM?"

--

We all nodded. I only nodded because I was afraid I might need to throw up again shouldn't we redirect the conversation.

"You are shipped out at 1600 hours. The plane's waiting for you. You go to Addis Abeba. Approximately 20 hours. There you board a smaller plane which will bring you to the area Fariba was when she last checked in. Take your chutes, there's nowhere to go down. You'll have to walk quite a bit so we can pick you up."

"Meaning, we have to carry all the essentials for her, too." Ranger threw in. He had taken over the role of the team leader, with me for making the Suit nervous. My favorite job.

The Suit nodded.

"Any idea who has her?"

"We assume it might be a terrorist group. We would like you to take care off it, too. After you brought Fariba out."

"How much brain do the guys have who plan stuff like this? As much as a snail, or more? When was the last time you were in the field? Or were you never out like this. Responsible for another person's life?"

The Suit refused to answer.

"Forget is. Now tell us how you planned it."

"We thought you could gather Intel while you prepare the extraction. Then walk her out to a prearranged pick-up point and then go back in to erase the terrorist group."

"Don't you think it might be smarter to send two teams? One for the extraction and one to eliminate the terrorists. And our government might think about ways to stop this inhumanly practice. Might things might easier."

"Why only one team?" Ranger wanted to know.

"You guys are the best we have. You are the only chance this woman has to get out alive."

Marco glanced at me and raised his eyebrow.

"Oh, shut up. I kicked Ranger's ass, I'm sniper, medic, becoming a bombs' specialist. What more do you need? I'm even heavier armed than you."

"How do you know?"

"Two guns and a knife. Right?"

"Yeah. What do you carry?"

"More. A lot more."

He looked around at my guys who simply nodded. They had seen me get dressed and had slightly paled when I practiced with my throwing knives. And I had gotten some stuff added to my weaponry the guys didn't know anything about yet.

"Oh."

"Yeah. Just accept me as a member of the team or I might feel the need to kick your ass thoroughly."

"Bit of advice. Don't risk it. She might cut off some rather important parts you might need later on. Just shut up and accept her as one of us."

"Whole core team wrapped around your pinkie?"

I was just smiling at him. "Yes, but I'm a member of the core team, too. Let's get on with the task at hand. Communication?"

"You will be out of communication, only between the six of you on a very tight band with the newest technology so nobody can listen into your conversations. They might understand English."

"We'll talk Spanish." Good solution.

Marco again. "You speak Spanish?"

"Yes. And Italian and Hungarian and I'm learning French at the moment. Shut up." I had had to speak Italian when I was younger and Grandma Mazur had taught me Hungarian. You never know which skill might save your life, but speaking different languages was definitely useful."

"Just stop asking, bro. There's no chance in hell you might win an argument with her. She's just too good."

"How long do you expect us to be gone?" Ranger brought the conversation back to more important things.

"Three months or more. Depends on how fast you can gather the Intel you need to take out everyone affiliated to the group."

"Check ins?"

"We would like none, but that's up to you as you report to your own company. Just make sure there's no way for them to listen into your conversations."

"Ditto."

"Anything else you want to know?"

"Special environmental conditions? Climate?"

"Hot and humid." There went my nice curls. Frizz, here I come.

"Any idea how big the group is?"

"We don't have any reliable numbers, but they are pretty new. Maybe thirty? More? "

"Fuck, I hate it when I don't know what I'm up against. Moxie, you'll take three extra magazines." I nodded.

"Everyone take all the ammo you brought. We'll need it. Let's get ready to go. There are some calls we need to make before we can go."

The Suit gave us manila folders with all the information they had gathered so far, mostly about the hostage, along with a rough map of the area she was last known. Not good enough. There was nothing on it. We needed all the little villages and stuff and according to the map there weren't any villages in this area. Bullshit.

While walking down to the cars Ranger started issuing orders.

"Santos, call control and have them fax a better map. I'm not going with this piece of crap." Les sprang into action. How's he going to address Marco?

"Tank, all the energy bars and the foldable tanks. You know what we need. Lil, you get the extra stuff for our hostage and the tarpaulin. Santos, comm systems and night vision. Bobby biggest kit you've got. We might need it." I didn't even want to think about it. But what's it about Lil? Interesting nickname, but I knew I shouldn't interrupt Ranger at this point. Forget something important and you're dead. And nobody would ever find us. Wait. Stop. RangeMan would find us.

"Lil you still on?" Apparently Lil knew what he was talking about.

"Yep."

"Santos call control to make sure everyone is on." Okay, they were talking about his tracking device.

"We'll talk about the partner issue on the plane." Fine with me. 20 hours is a lot of time to kill. We would probably spent a few hours sleeping and then making a plan on how to approach the problem.

Another Suit came out to give us the map someone of our guys had faxed down and we were on our way to the airport to finish packing our stuff and change into appropriate clothes before we boarded.

On the ride over Ranger gave me a sat- phone. Mine was at home sitting on the counter, just like he had told me. Call your Dad. Tell him how long and that we'll check in with RangeMan every Sunday at 1600 hours. This will be enough for him. Don't go into details."

I made the call, telling my Dad that I love him and to give all the others my love. He told me that he was proud of me. For being so strong and brave. Fortunately he hadn't seen my breakdown when they told us the reason for us leaving the country.

We made it to the airport in no time. The plane was already waiting for us, but we had to change and pack first. I had packed a bag with the stuff I wanted to change into. Boots, cargoes and T. I just had one problem. I hadn't considered my undies when I dressed this morning, but I had a change of combat undies in my bag. Well, I had to strip completely. This was only fair as all the guys were going commando. Serious eyecandy. I better didn't tell Lula about this. She would scream until I lost my ability to hear and then faint.

I managed to change with only a minor blush. My guys had seen it all, Ranger more intimately and Marco was going to see it anyway. So why bother? Only complicates things. I would never again have a problem with going skinny dipping.

Ranger was only tucking his back up piece in and stuffed the rest in his backpack. I had a special bag for my weapons with small compartments for each piece I carry. Bad idea to throw your knives into a bag with clothes and other sensitive stuff. I threw on my combat jacket and grabbed my water bottle. Locked and loaded, ready to roll. I had even one of these fancy army knives in my bag, you know the ones that have everything you might need being out without civilization. The ones with a little saw on it and all that other stuff.

I could feel my alert shift. My body was changing from civilist into combat mode. We all were high alert, drawing our weapons before thinking. Not a good idea to surprise anyone of us right now.

The guys finished their tasks. The contractors came over for last minute instructions from Ranger, wished us well and good luck and left. They had been covering our backs while we did the last minute stuff, but stayed well out of hearing distance. They didn't have the needed security clearance. Even the guys at home didn't know where we were going and why. They just knew that we where in the wind.

"Let's get this show on the road boys."

"Girl, you are way too perky."

"Lil, let me assure you, that's only because I had a good nights sleep and I want to get this woman out of there. We'll talk again when I had a night with only a few hours of combat sleep. You won't know what hit you."

"Problem is, she's right. I talked to TK after they had her on sleep deprivation. Nothing I want to experience." Tank the smartass.

"Sorry boys. Little late for that. Let's go. I want to sleep."

"But you slept the whole drive to DC." Tank should know not to argue with me. He had lost a lot of arguments since I came back. Special training, thanks to Toby.

"You can never get too much sleep. I'm sleeping now, so I've got a depot to live on once it gets rough. And it's going to be rough."

"Feeling okay, Babe?"

"Little uneasy. But I'm not sure it's my spidey sense. Might as well be nervousness, but I think it's spidey."

"Shit." My guys said in unison. Clever Guys.

We boarded the plane, one of those small army ones and settled in for the flight.

A/N: Thank you Amy for giving me the idea of rescuing a human rights activist. Also thanks to TT and Stephannie for giving me an idea about how to approach my problem of how to write about a mission. Thanks for kicking my muse in the butt. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed or encouraged me in any way! Thanks, girls.

More information to FGM. It's described in detail and in it's worst form, so be warned. You might get sick reading it it's so disgusting.

alternativefrock.


	28. Chapter 27

_Standard disclaimer applies._

_Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed so far! Thanks for the encouragement!_

_This chapter is a little angsty but nothing too bad._

**Chapter 27**

It wasn't like flying first class, but we would manage.

When we were on travel height I vocalized my uneasy feeling. Something about the Suit had set me off, rubbed me the wrong way, whatever. I had been thinking about it since we left his office and the feeling that something was seriously wrong was getting stronger by the minute.

Ranger sensed my internal struggle. "What's up?"

"Ranger, I've got a bad feeling."

"How so, Babe?"

"Something just doesn't add up." My guys were following closely, Marco was slightly disinterested. Bastard.

"Just talk freely. We'll sort it out as we go."

I nodded. "What impression did you guys have when the Suit told us about this mission? He was too distant, like he didn't care that we get her out unharmed."

"Yeah. Seemed like he had no idea what he was talking about. I never heard about it, but he sure should have read something about it considering why they called us." Tank butted in.

"I thought he seemed so cold. He only showed more interest when we were talking about the terrorist group." Then a thought struck me. "Shit. They might have done it on purpose. Let the guards be locals, maybe even members of the group. They waited a week before they send us in. What the fuck is that about? They should have send us in as soon as she went missing. Maybe they used her to get something on the group." The guys nodded, mulling over what I just said. "And he seemed pretty sure when he talked about the area where she might be held." I turned to Ranger. "Do we have a chance to get into the network handling international gps? They might have chipped her, too. Call Silvio and have him hack into the system. Maybe he can get a location. Shouldn't be too much people over there with an US issued tracker on them. Might give us an advantage and a place to start."

The guys looked at me in awe. "Makes sense, Moxie. I guess I need to apologize for my rude and impolite behavior. It's highly unusual to meet a girl with your skills and instincts."

"Apology accepted."

"That's all? No nagging and whining?"

"Why should I? We have to work together for at least three months. Why should I muck it up before it even started? I showed you that I can kick your ass. You have to possibilities. One, you accept me as Moxie, or two, you try to belittle me and generally just annoy the hell out of me. That would only result in some more ass kicking for you. Might not be the wisest choice, but it's your decision."

"You making threats?"

I had to chuckle at this. "Nope, promises! Ask your bro. And Sam might be a good informant on this topic, too."

"Sam?"

"Asshole who set us up. Was part of a security breech at a jewelry shop with hostages. Caused Ranger and me to get shot. Steph roughed him up a tiny little bit. Tank got the rest of him." Everyone wore grim expressions. We had come too close to loosing two members of the core team and the hostages.

"Okay. I get it."

"Let's settle who' partnered with whom. Suggestions?" Ranger got back to business.

"Santos and Lil, Brown and Moxie." Tank's idea. We were in combat mode. No private names until we were back in the states and out of the debriefing on our way back to Trenton.

"Ranger and Moxie, Lil and Tank." Lester's suggestion.

"Bullshit guys. I'll work with Lil. You guys are used to working together, why mix up partners? Just makes it more complicated."

We agreed and it was settled. "So Lil, how did you get your nickname?"

"Kinda embarrassing story. I'm not sure I want to tell you."

"Do it anyways. Do you think this stupid reporter asked me before he called me the Bombshell Bounty Hunter? Of course not. He thought it was funny. Just because I sometimes blow a car up."

"Moxie, you blow them up way more often than sometimes. But my favorite was by far the Boxter."

"Thanks Tank. I love you too. Remember that I got all the necessary stuff with me. Matter of minutes and BOOM! Think about it."

"Damn. Why again did TK think this might be a good idea? He doesn't have to deal with her. That's plain unfair."

"You know TK?" Lil again.

"Sure. That's where I went for my training. But what about your nick name. Don't try to distract me. Distraction is usually my job so it won't work."

He looked actually embarrassed- "Alright, I cave. You know, I'm two years younger than Les, but we joined the army together. Les went to college before he enlisted, I went straight from high school. I was a stupid arrogant prick. Every time we got out we would go to a bar and pick some girls up. One night I went home with this beautiful girl. I don't even remember her name."

"Bro, you never remembered the name of your fuck buddy."

"Anyways, we went home to her and brought it on, but I was pretty selfish back then. I was so drunk off my ass I wanted to pay her. The girl wasn't too happy with my performance and told her friends I had a little... you know. Her girlfriends were big gossips and told everybody and anybody. Somehow my drill sergeant heard of it. That's how I got my name. One day after this weekend he screamed 'Little' at me. I had no idea he was talking to me, but then everybody started laughing and it finally registered he meant me. Thankfully he shortened it to Lil after some time, but I was the laugh of the entire base. Taught me a valuable lesson."

I had started laughing like mad. When I could talk again I had to ask. "This lesson being because you were embarrassed at the base or because you never again got to pick up a girl in that city."

"Shit. You girl always get down to the bottom of it, don't you?"

"Yup. That's why everybody loves me. Maybe except for Val and Morelli."

"You got that right, Babe. We all love you." He was smiling his 1000 watts at me. Well, that got me melting into a puddle at his feet.

"Does she always get this mushy when you tell her you love her?"

"Shut up, Lil."

"So what's the plan once we get there?" Bobby, my hero.

"Before we switch planes we need to contact Silvio so he can get us the information. I'm not sure they actually put a tracker on her, but it's worth a try. Gathering Intel will probably kinda difficult. 90 percent of the women in Ethiopia suffered through FGM, enforced by men, so there might be some women willing to help us, but I'm pretty sure they don't know much. Especially not about some terrorist group."

"Why are they so interested in this group anyway?"

"Might be some black market and smuggling stuff or about power. That's what we gonna have to find out. For now I would say we try to get some sleep. There are still almost 18 hours left."

Reasonable, so we tried to get comfortable. I snuggled up to Ranger and promptly fell asleep.

Some time later Ranger woke me with his kisses. I had a hard time getting the sleep out of my eyes.

"Mmmmmm."

"Come on, Babe. Wake up."

"Noooo." I was whining. I just wanted to sleep. They never let me get the beauty sleep I so desperately needed. Damn.

"You need to eat something. Your stomach is growling so loud we are afraid it might attack us. You woke all of us."

"Sorry." I still hadn't opened my eyes.

"Open your eyes or you won't get anything to eat." He was shaking me now slightly. But my dream had been so nice. Me and Ranger on the beach, naked, sunset and nobody else there.

"My dream was so nice."

"Tell me about it."

No I actually had to open my eyes. I knew that I was slightly flushed. "Don't think that's a good idea."

He took a good look at me and nodded, grinning at me. "I get the point. Was it good."

"Beyond good. Now what's to eat?"

"Ella packed us lunch and your mom made you a chocolate cake. Thought you might need it."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We had been in this God forsaken jungle for four days now and we had nothing. Silvio found out that they hadn't put a tracker on Fariba, so no help there. We had been able to figure out the way she came, but that's about it. The last village where she was seen was very small and the women were obviously frightened. Too frightened to tell me much. They wouldn't talk to the guys at all, but what they told me wasn't much either.

The second day we had tried to get information, going around, asking people. The women had screamed when my guys came near me, apparently because of their similar physical appearance with the abductors. I wouldn't go anywhere alone, but Lil frightened them just as much, so it was difficult. Another reason was that the women were mostly kept in the dark. They didn't know what was going on. They were supposed to cook and clean, get babies and care for them. Everything else was the men's responsibility.

We were following the route Fariba had taken, trying to figure out who had her abducted and where. We had heard rumors about the terrorist group, but nothing definite. We only knew it because we were talking Spanish all the time and they didn't think we would understand them. When we talked English with them we all had a heavy accent, leading them on, letting them believe we had problems communicating with the natives. We indeed had problems communicating. Only a few people spoke English. They all spoke a language I didn't understand, I didn't even know what to call it, so we had to work with gestures a lot, showing pictures around. It was demotivating how little we could find out.

The nights we found shelter in caves. We always checked them out to find any and all entrances to prevent bad surprises at night. One of us was always keeping watch while the rest of us slept. I wasn't too happy about not sleeping but I did my best to help. We had a schedule so we all had one night a week when we could sleep without interruptions. Bliss.

We had managed to find shelter near small rivers, so we didn't have to carry our water too far and we could clean up every morning and evening, although it didn't help much.

It hadn't been too hard work until we got a big lead.

A young girl told me that she had seen the men who had grabbed Fariba. She could describe them and they seemed to look indeed like my guys. I had a bad feeling about it. There were only six of us, but who knows how many of them. And they had the hostage. The girl told me in which direction they had gone with her. We finally had an idea where to start looking. She also told me that they had had a jeep. Damn. Fortunately she hadn't undergone the rite yet, but she was scheduled for it in a week.

After two more days of searching we finally found the place where they were holding Fariba. Only problem was we had no way to find out the floor plan of the building, meaning we had no idea what we were walking into. Fuck.

The next night we approached the building at three am. The time of the night when normal people are the least attentive. I just hoped it would be to our advantage. From my point of view we had to get Fariba out. I didn't want her to have to undergo the procedure. Eew.

It looked like they were holding Fariba in a warehouse which was highly unusual for the area. That made me wonder why there had never anyone who suspected something.

We were in swat mode. Black clothing, my face complete with face paint to make me less noticeable. The guys didn't need it, already pretty dark on their own. We were outfitted with vests and night vision, but also with some extra devises. One of them was a device to detect heat. That gave us the advantage of knowing how many people were around.

There were six guards around the warehouse and eight inside. We discussed how to take them down so we could get Fariba out. We had to disable them, but we couldn't alert them that we were there. So shooting them and fighting them was out of the question.

"We need to get them down, but they under no circumstances need to know that we were here. We need some head start when we get her out before they start searching for us." Ranger started the task at hand.

"Yeah. How we gonna do this? Mutate into smoke so nobody can see us?" Lil was a little impatient. He was worse than me.

"That might work for Batman." The core team chuckled at this.

"Batman?"

"Later. As I was going to say, we need something else to get in unnoticed. How good are you guys at darts?"

"We have no time for your shit."

"Lil, shut the fuck up. Tranq darts!"

"How many do you have Moxie?" Tank wanted to know. Lil was pouting, but we ignored him. He would get around.

"Eight ready, but I have supplies for 12 more here. We should collect the used darts when they are out."

"What about the med you got on it?" Ranger was already planning ahead.

"Got everything in this jungle here to make it myself. Saw it a yard away from where we hid the packs. So who of you guys is comfortable with throwing?" I looked around, trying to gauge their reactions. They didn't look too comfortable. "Okay. I'll throw them. Just help me to collect them."

"How long will they be out?" Bobby wanted to know.

"Two to three hours. Should give us a nice head start. Now let's get going. I want to get out of here."

Plan made we set out to take the guards out. We all were wired with throat mics and earpieces. I went first with Lil as my back up. We would watch my back and shoot the shit out of a guard who might come at me. The rest stayed behind, waiting for my signal to come in.

I was so silent that even Lil had problems hearing me and he knew that I was there. I hoped the guards didn't notice as.

I had them down pretty quickly and signaled the rest of the team. The darts stuck so it was easy to collect them. I prepped them for the next round and we made our way into the warehouse.

The first two guards went down quietly and we crept further into the building. I was strung high wire, attentive to the smallest noises, noticing everything that went on around me.

Ranger had the heat detector.

"Where are the others? I can't see anyone."

"Down the floor on your right side, second door. Two guards."

"Shit."

"Tell me about it."

"Where are the others?"

"Two with our hostage and two on the second floor."

"Alright. I'll leave you and Tank four darts. You stay down here. The rest of goes up to get her. Dart them when they get out. Maybe we'll get away without the two of them noticing."

"10-4"

That discussed we went in as silent as possible and the four of us crept up the stairs, trying not to alert the guards. The stairs were a problem as they tended to squeak. Damn. We finally got to the second floor and the first guard went down without a hitch. Everything was quiet downstairs. I spotted the other guard at the end of the corridor and took him down as well. Two down, two more to go.

That brought us to the next step, the most important and most dangerous. And I was responsible for the outcome. A lot of pressure for one person, but I had to cope. I was the last barrier between Fariba and her circumcision. There was no time for failure.

We checked out every room on the floor, but they all were empty, the doors not even closed. Finally we crept up to the last door. The place where Fariba was held. The door was locked. One year ago that would have been a problem for me. Not anymore. It took me only a few seconds to pick the lock. My guys were watching my back so I could concentrate on my task. The two guards downstairs still hadn't made an appearance. Thank God for small favors.

I slowly pushed the door open, peeking around the corner. Thankfully the guards were standing with the back toward the door so I took them down simultaneously. Phew.

"All guards down. Let me get her. Collect the darts, they are still stuck."

I walked into the room. Fariba was shackled to a chair. Her wrists and ankles were raw and bloody. She had bruises on her face and had definitely lost weight since they captured her. We would have to check her out later.

Fariba was sleeping, her head hanging to the side.

I walked up to her and gently laid my hand onto her forearm to wake her up without startling her too bad.

She woke up almost instantly and whispered to me. "Who are you?" Her voice was quite fearful. Understandable considering how I was looking.

"I'm Stephanie Plum. My team and I were send by the US government to get you out of here. Be quiet and I'll get you free."

I could see her nod and a minute later I had her free.

"There are three guys in the corridor and two downstairs. They look mean but they are nice guys. Now let's get out of here."

She nodded and followed me.

_What do you think? Should they get her out without further problems? Should new guards show up while they make their getaway? Let me know, please._


	29. Chapter 28

_A/N: I only borrowed Fariba Davoodi Mohajer. I borrowed the name and her profession. I don't mean any harm and have no intention to disregard what she does! I have the highest respect for this person, but there's no way to tell how she might react to the situation my story places her in. Just to prevent any trouble. I don't mean to disrespect any person existent I'm using in my story!!!_

_I appreciated every review! _

_Standard disclaimer applies!_

**Chapter 28**

"Do you have any stuff here?"

"No, they took everything."

"Okay. Stay between the four of us at all times."

"Why?" Couldn't she just do what I told her?

"We are wearing Kevlar, you're not. Do you know when the next shift of guard arrives?"

That was when we heard cars approaching. Damn. Because of the limited time we had we hadn't been able to learn their schedule so we had no idea when shift change was.

"Now."

"Shit. Everyone. Shift change NOW!"

Ranger came over the ear piece. "Moxie take point at the railing, Lil cover her. Brown, Santos try to get down here. Get the hostage out. We'll meet back at the packs."

I made a quick decision. We didn't want to know them about who we were yet, so we had to avoid getting into a close up fight. Distraction! That should help us for now.

"NO! They'll know who we are. We need a distraction. Lester, take this goodie. Try to get out and at least 150 yards away from the building. Push the button and come back to the building but don't enter." Lester snuck away to divert the attention of the guards.

"Try to stay put, Lester has it covered. 2 minutes tops."

Ranger was back. "How's the hostage?"

"She seems alright. I'll take a closer look later."

We waited in silence. Lester told us he had the bomb planted. I had it set to 45 seconds.

"Hurry back Lester."

"I'm back."

A few seconds later "KABOOM".

Ranger took the lead again. "Give them a few seconds and then come down. We've got the two down here down."

I turned around to Fariba and asked her whispering "Can you walk?"

"I'm not sure."

"You been here the whole time?" This time she just nodded.

"Shit. Lil, help her."

Tank came over the line. "Come down now. Carry her. Be quiet."

Lil picked Fariba up. She didn't like it. "Ms Mohajer, I suggest you do as we tell you. We put our lives on the line to get you out of here, so a little cooperation would be nice. We are your last chance in getting out relatively unharmed." She nodded and went along with it.

We crept down the stairs, trying to make little to no noise, hoping not to alert them to our presence.

We snuck out of the building, covering as much area as possible, trying to get away without problems. I was running on a high level of adrenaline, just like everyone else. That was what had us all hooked on jobs like this. The pressure to get the hostage out unharmed, to bring the whole team back, but also the thrill of the chase. The thrill to be better than the enemy, to use the skills you trained so hard for. To be sneaky and sometimes unorthodox, always with the goal in mind. Concentrating so hard that there was no space to thing about family or friends, everything you left back at home when you went on the mission. All that mattered was the there and then. All traces of tiredness were gone, we were high alert, ready to react in the fraction of a second, react before you think.

"Moxie, Lil, head straight to the camp, Brown, Santos go north. We'll cover your retreat. MOVE!"

Our camp was approximately two miles to the east. We went as silent as possible, Lil still carrying Fariba. When we were on the way back Fariba spoke for the first time since we got her out of the little room.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Moxie and the guy carrying you is Lil. There are four more. You'll meet them at the camp. Just try not to annoy them and obey."

"Why should I?"

"You want to experience what they do to the women here? Just say so and we'll leave you here. You want to go home unharmed? Trust us and do what we tell you to. We leave you here, you'll undergo the procedure. You chose to trust us, we'll guard you with our lives. Enough?"

She nodded.

"Great. Now let's get back to the camp, I need to take a look at your injuries." There was a tiny little bit of sarcasm sneaking into my voice, but I couldn't help it.

"But you can't do that." She was whining. Okay, she had had a couple of rough days, but she was getting on my nerves. Lil was quiet, letting me show her the borderlines.

"It's either me or one of the guys. Your decision. We're both trained medics. We need you to be able to walk or it will take forever to get you out if the guy have to constantly carry you."

We made the rest of the walk in silence. Although we only had whispered before, you could never be careful enough in a situation like this.

We made it back to the camp at 4am. When we came back I told Fariba to rest until the rest of the team was there. I couldn't examine her yet, it was too dark to see anything. Lil took watch and I wanted to stretched out for a nap as well.

"How am I supposed to sleep?"

"Wait a second, there's a sleeping bag for you. You can clean up in the morning and we should get you into other clothes as well." Her traditional clothing wasn't the best choice to run through a jungle, trying to escape a cruel fate.

"What do you mean?"

"You should wear pants and a shirt. Makes walking a lot easier."

"But I can't..."

Before she could get any further I interrupted her. "You have to. Now stop arguing and sleep." I had pulled out the sleeping bag for her and pointed her where she should lay down.

"But what if they come after me?"

"Lil is keeping watch until the rest of the team arrives. We all take turns keeping watch at night. You are safe. I know you've had a couple of rough days. We'll talk about it in the morning, but now you should sleep."

That seemed to be enough to reassure her and she finally settled down to sleep, but somehow I couldn't sleep.

I got up again and sat dow next to Lil.

"How come you know exactly how to calm her down, how to reassure her?"

"How much do you know about me?"

"I know that you were a bounty hunter. That's how you met Ranger. You met the guys on a job and they took turns bodyguarding you later on. And you've been working for RangeMan." He thought a moment. "Oh. And you know TK because he is the one who trained you."

"Alright. How much do you want to know?"

"As much as you're comfortable telling me."

"You are right. I met Ranger when I started bounty hunting. I had no idea how to do it and Vinnie had given me Joe Morelli as my first skip, a vice cop on the run. Connie, that's Vinnie's office manager called Ranger and called in a favor. He was to show me the ropes. He helped me in some really tight situations and got shot helping me with one of my skips. The skip had managed to grab my gun. Pretty embarrassing." I had to chuckle. In hindsight my escapades were kind of funny.

"You got him shot and he continued helping you?"

"Yes. Even later when I was in an on-off relationship with my first skip, he always came to help me. He was the one who would first show up at the scene when one of my cars had blown up to make sure I was okay. He provided me with muscle when I needed help taking a skip down. I sometimes worked for him, doing distractions, but the first job I ever did with him and the team was a redecorating job."

"Tell me about that job." He seemed curious, but genuinely interested in what I had to say.

"I had no idea what he meant with that. I thought we would go somewhere to paint a wall or something. He picked me up that morning and Les, Tank and Bobby were crammed in the backseat. All four guys were wearing black, armed to the teeth. I was wearing blue jeans, a tee and a flannel. When we arrived at the scene Ranger introduced me and asked if I had thought to bring my gun. I hadn't which was normal. I was afraid of my gun until I went to get training. Anyway the banter went back and forth. I told them I didn't like getting shot. And I was kinda afraid we would do something illegal, because I don't like getting arrested. Les called me no fun back then." I was lost in my memories and it took me a moment before I could continue.

"I was stalked on a regular basis. My apartment was fire bombed, I found one of my now best friends, a former ho on my fire escape, raped and cut, I found dead people in my apartment, got sent pieces of people, I was kidnapped and shot at. I was even shoved into a coffin and I was at the scene when my Grandma blew up a funeral home. And Ranger was there for me every time to pick up the pieces. He would come, take me in the comfort of his embrace and everything would be alright again. When I was low on money and behind with my rent he would throw a job my way and give me a car. I have no idea how many cars where blown up by my crazy skips. But it were a lot. Hell, he even gave a Boxter. There was a bomb in it and after it blew up there fell a garbage truck on it."

"You mean to tell me that Ranger supported you the whole time?"

"Yeah. When I had a contract on my head issued by the Slayers I went to stay at his apartment in his absence. I didn't ask, he hadn't even told me about it, but he never said anything about it when he came back."

"Run that by me again. How did you find out?"

"My POS car went to car heaven and he had told Tank to give me his personal truck should the need arise. GPS brought me back to his office. I snuck in and out, hoping nobody would see me. I felt safe in his apartment, without him even being there."

"Okay, he helped you when you were in trouble, but how did you know how to calm our girl down?"

"Have you been kidnapped like this?"

Lil nodded, but didn't elaborate.

"I've been in this situation way too often. I know that it's hard to feel safe again. You feel threatened and unsure, of yourself, but also about what will happen next. You are frightened. You feel like you can never feel safe again. I had Ranger to fall back on, or Joe. Whoever. I would indulge in a sugar party, you know worship Ben and Jerry's and than I would most likely bounce back. I have the safety net foe occasions like this. Fariba however doesn't. She doesn't know us. We could be another group of kidnappers as well as the people who will bring her to safety. I think me being here helps her. You guys are scary. She doesn't know what happens to her. When you army guys get into a situation where you are taking hostage you have an idea how to deal with it. You got the training for it. Fariba didn't undergo the training. I just know how she feels and what she needs. And I think you carrying her has helped her, too. There's nothing as reassuring as a man carrying you away from trouble."

Lil looked thoughtful, mulling over what I just told him, trying to comprehend what I had said.

Before he could say anything I could see Bobby ans Lester approach in the distance. It was nearly 5am and they looked beat. A few minutes later they were next to us.

"Any trouble?"

"Nah, took us longer than expected because we made some traps getting here, leading them on. Great idea to create a distraction with the bomb." Lester told me.

"Hey, I'm Ms Distraction. What did you expect? Has been a while since anything blew up around me. I'm still driving the first company car I got when I came back."

"Moxie, did you already take a look at her?"

"Nope, told her we would later when we can see anything. I'm pretty sure I'll have to do it, though. She was pretty reluctant to agree."

"Okay. Anything else?"

"No. You guys catch a nap." Lil wasn't too talkative apparently.

"Moxie, you entertaining him with the story of your life?" Lester wanted to know.

"Yeah, but he doesn't know yet that I'll ask him just as many questions."

"You are evil."

They settled down to sleep. It had been a hard night for all of us, but we had been able to go straight back.

"Lil, you wanna catch a nap as well?"

He nodded and went to his sleeping bag.

I was sitting alone in the dark, hearing the animals around me. The birds cheeping, bigger animals walking around and the whisper of the trees. The sound of the leaves swirling in the soft morning breeze. It was peaceful and serene. I could see the sun begin to rise, the sky's colors changing.

I felt good sitting there, waiting for Ranger and Tank to come back. One year ago I would have been frightened to death, but now I felt at ease. It was a great feeling.

Around six Ranger and Tank came back. They looked a little rough, but nothing too bad.

"Trouble?"

"Some stupid shrub with thorns." Tank answered me.

"And guard wise?"

"Your bomb surprised them. They have discovered that Fariba isn't there anymore, but they've got no idea who took her."

"Okay. Why don't you guys take a nap?"

Tank nodded and headed to join the others. Ranger settled down behind me, his legs outstretched next to mine, his chin resting on my shoulder. I leaned back into him, assured by his presence.

"Proud of you, Babe."

I nodded. His praise meant so much to me.

"How's Fariba?"

"Nothing too bad. I'll take a look at her when she wakes up. Probably a little underweight and dehydrated but other than that only superficial. She's pretty weak though. Lil carried her the whole way."

"I heard what you told Lil about your history. Did I mean that much to you?" He seemed slightly unsure of himself.

"Yeah. Every time I was in trouble I called you. When you came and hugged me I felt safe, no matter what was going on around us. You were my rock all the time. I never felt completely safe with Joe."

After that we sat in silence watching the sun rise and the jungle wake up. Bobby was the first to join us.

"Breakfast?"

"Let's wait for the others."

One after another the rest of the guys woke up and I finally left Ranger's embrace to wake Fariba up.

"Time to get up. We need to discuss how we'll get you out of here."

She came awake quite slowly, but I gave her the time, knowing where she was coming from.

"What about the others?"

"Already up. Tank's making breakfast at the moment. Let's go down to the river so you can clean up and we can get you into fresh clothes."

She nodded and followed me. Fortunately we had the same size so she could wear my stuff. Expecting it I had packed two extra sets and a toiletry kit for her. Never hurts to be prepared. I had taken Bobby's kit with us to get cleaned up. The place I took her guaranteed her some privacy and I took the chance to examine her. I bandaged the raw places on her wrists and ankles and put some ointment on it, but other than that she was unharmed. At least physically. I gave her a set of clothes and told her to put them on. She was quite uncomfortable in my clothes, but she had no choice.

We went back to the rest of the team. Tank had breakfast ready and we settled down to eat.

After a while I was getting curious. I was nearly full and wanted to know what had happened. "So, may I call you Fariba...?" She nodded. "What happened?"


	30. Chapter 29

_WARNING: You get queasy easily? Don't read the paragraph between the hyphens! Description about what they did to the girl. You won't miss anything if you skip that part!_

_Thank you to all my reviewers. I really appreciate your support!_

**Chapter 29**

Before she could utter a single syllable she started to sob, big tears running down her cheeks. She was shaking really bad. The guys looked scared. They never knew how to handle a crying woman. I scooted over to her and enveloped her in my arms and let her cry herself out, running soothing circles over her back. The stress and fear of the last week and a half had finally caught up with her, but also the relief to be free again.

After a long time she finally settled down a little, the sobs fading and only leaving silent tears running down her cheeks.

"Ranger, there's a chocolate bar at the bottom of my pack somewhere. Could you get it for me, please?"

The guys stared at me while Ranger went to get the chocolate.

"Why did you bring chocolate, Moxie?" Tank wanted to know.

"Emergency stash. I knew she would need it when we get her out. Ask Ranger. After Abruzzi got me I was baking cookies. Everything there's drama in my life I eat high amounts of sugar, being ice cream or chocolate and every thing's better."

Ranger came back and I offered the bar to Fariba. She took it gratefully. Guess chocolate is a cure-all for every women. She ate the bar and I gave her some more minutes to get herself together.

"Better?"

She just nodded.

"Ready to tell us what happened?"

The tears started to spill again, but she started to tell us what happened.

"I was in Addis Abbeba on a conference about FGM." She looked up at the guys. "You know what it is?" We all nodded. "We were discussing ways to stop this rite, but couldn't come up with anything really useful. I decided I would go to these little villages where they do it and talk. Talk to the women about their experiences, to the men why they force it."

"What about the guards you had with you?" I wanted to know.

"They were locals, they translated for me, but they spoke English pretty good."

"Shit." Came from the entire team. We would have to be extremely careful. And I had been right. Damn.

I was still holding her in my arms, soothing her. "What happened then?"

"We were in the fourth village, a really small one, only a few houses, and I was talking to the woman who did it in this village. She had undergone the procedure herself and couldn't understand why she should stop. She was just telling me that she had to endure it, so why shouldn't all the other women have to endure it themselves, when suddenly everything went black." She started sobbing again, her whole body shaking.

"What do you remember next?" I asked her gently. The guys let me run the show, convinced I would do a better job asking her about the whole ordeal.

"I was in the room you found me. And there was this little girl."

I gave her some time to pull herself together. I just knew that what she was telling us next would be bad, but I had no idea how bad.

----------------------------------------------------------------

"She was wearing such a cute dress and when they noticed that I was awake they stripped her down. She was so small, and naked. And they... they were holding down. She was maybe five. And they... they did it to her. She was screaming, so loud. And I had to watch. They were holding my head so I had to watch. And they had her lying in a manner that I could see exactly what they were doing. And the girl, she... she tried to get away, but they were holding her. She was screaming. And they were doing the worst form. In this area they normally remove only the clitoris, but they removed everything. They scraped," huge sobs were ragging her body now, "they scraped her vagina out. And there was so much blood and she was screaming. It took so long, so long and I couldn't help her. They did it with a piece of glass. It was so dirty. And then they pierced it together. With thorns. They were so cruel. They were laughing and the girl was screaming in pain. It's my fault they did this to her."

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She couldn't speak anymore, the memory too much for her. She was shaking and sobbing, tears rolling down her face and you could see the pain in her face. It was obvious that she felt responsible for what had happened to the little girl.

As I looked up I saw the guys looking as sick as I felt. Sure I knew what they did, but I sure didn't need a description with a lot of graphic details. I felt sick that humans could do things like this to each other.

When she had the sobs under control again I asked the next question. We needed to know as much as possible.

"What happened then?" I held my voice gentle, soothing, trying to calm her down.

"I was shackled to the chair I woke up in. They came twice a day with something to eat. And I was allowed to go to the bathroom after I ate."

She had finally reached her limit as she passed out. It was too much for her to handle. She would need some serious counseling once she was back.

We sat silent for a few minutes before anybody said something, mulling over what she had told us. We knew that she went to these villages to stop the rite, but in the case of the little girl it seemed like she had triggered its execution and Fariba felt responsible for it. There was no way to tell if the girl had been scheduled anyways or had to undergo the procedure now because of Fariba's attempts to stop it once and for all. There was no doubt in my mind that the little girl would have to endure it someday.

"We gotta get her out of here." Everyone nodded.

"She can't walk yet." The guys nodded again.

"One of you is gonna have to carry her." They nodded.

I was getting a little agitated. "Are you able to do anything else besides nod your head?" That caused them to shake their heads. Alright, I would take lead on this one.

"I suggest Lil is going to carry her for as long as possible. You're the one she's probably most comfortable with out of you guys."

"Why," Ranger wanted to know.

"He carried her out of there, brought her to safety, never stumbled, never tripped. She trusts him. And she knows his smell. This will reassure her even while she's out." Ranger nodded.

"His smell will reassure her?" Tank wanted to know.

"Ever wondered why I smell like Ranger most of the time?" I looked around. They didn't look like they were understanding what I was saying. Didn't matter. Time to deal with more pressing matters.

"We distribute the stuff in your back to the rest of us. She's heavy enough, although I'm sure she lost quite some weight. And we gotta keep her hydrated. She's not in a goos condition."

"You know that they makes us more vulnerable, don't you?" Lester wanted to know.

"Yeah. But that's the only chance we got. We don't have the time to wait until she's strong enough to walk. We'll be a lot faster this way. We'll have to manage."

We packed our stuff and removed any signs and evidence that we had ever been there before we started walking. Our destination for now was a little village with an even smaller airstrip. We would call RangeMan and they would arrange for a chopper or something to get Fariba out. According to our map the village was approximately 40 miles away. That wasn't the problem. What I saw as the problem were the guards who were looking for us and that we had to walk it back after Fariba was safely away. And then once again after we completed our task. Blisters here I come.

We mapped out the best route to take and started. My pack was even heavier than before, but I wasn't about to complain. I had only gotten a little of Lil's stuff. The guys had taken the majority of it. I had a lot of ammo in my pack, but apparently the guys had more.

That reminded me. I needed to prep my tranq darts again. Fortunately we were still in the area where I had seen all the stuff I needed. I would collect the stuff and then prep them when we stopped to eat. You never know when you might need them and I needed to prepare a new bomb. Had been useful the night before.

"Guys wait a sec. I need some supplies."

"Huh?" Tank, sometimes he wasn't into talking.

"The stuff for the tranq darts."

"You can actually prep them yourself?"

"Of course. Isn't the best idea to have the darts but no meds for it. And it's really easy to make."

It took me only a few minutes to collect all the stuff I would need and we could go on. Further away from civilization, further into the jungle.

We stopped briefly for lunch. Fariba woke up for a few minutes so we got her to eat something and got some water into her and she fell asleep again. After lunch Les carried her. It wasn't easy for them, but we just didn't have the time to wait until Fariba had recovered enough to walk by herself. We had to hurry. The guards were only a mile or two behind us. We had lost quite some time when the team had napped, but we had to sleep sometime. We would just have to be extremely careful, always prepared to go on.

We walked well into the night, trying to get as far as possible. I had no idea how far we had walked, but we were a lot slower due to Fariba.

Around nine that evening we finally found shelter for the night. A cold meal had to do, because we couldn't risk a fire. It might alert them to our wherabouts. Nothing we wanted to risk at that stage.

Ranger and I took first watch. We had decided that two lookouts at night were the way to go. Les and Lil would be allowed to sleep the whole night, as well as Fariba, as they had been carrying her the whole day. Tank and Bobby would take second shift.

Fariba had woken up during the day, but she hadn't spoken again. We still didn't know what had happened to her. She would do as we told her, help as much as she could, but hadn't uttered a single word the whole day. And she was in constant contact with one of us. Whenever she was touching someone she was okay. But as soon as this contact stopped she would start to whimper and shake. The first night in captivity must have been very hard for her, not talking about the whole time they had her, but I had a feeling that she thought it was all her fault. And that was weighing heavy on her conscious. She felt responsible for the girls pain, so Bobby gave her a sedative to help calm her a little.

Fariba was sleeping curled up into Lil. As soon he had laid down beside her already sleeping form she had scouted over to him and curled around him. He wasn't too happy about it, but he would have to cope. Everything was better than to deal with a crying woman again. Let them face enemies and rocket launchers and they are fine. Confront them with a crying woman and they are desperately looking for a way out.

Ranger and I started our watch like the night before. I was sitting between his legs, my back against his chest and his arms around my waist. He had his chin on my shoulder. It was perfect to keep watch. I missed the contact to him. Sure, he was always there right beside me, but so far, we hadn't had much time together without the guys lurking around us. We would share a kiss or a touch, but that was about it. There simply was no time to hold each other, except during the night. We usually slept each in our own sleeping bag, but cuddled together as close as possible. We couldn't zip them together. It was too dangerous in case we needed to leave in a hurry. It would take too long to get out and get it packed. Fortunately it wasn't too cold, although the nights got pretty cool.

We were whispering while we sat there, wearing night vision to see approaching guys as soon as possible. The whispering was necessary. During the day we had only said what was absolutely necessary, communicating with hand signs as much as possible. Most of what was said was for Fariba's benefit.

"Tell me about your childhood."

"Why?"

"You know everything about mine. Come on, it can't be that bad."

"Alright, you win, Babe. I grew up in Newark. You remember when we were looking for Julie?"

I nodded my confirmation.

"We actually were in the street my parents live. I was a little wild when I was a kid. Always looking for trouble."

"That bad?"

"Yeah, it was getting worse when I got older. I had a lot of shit going on, fell in with the wrong crowd. My parents had enough and sent me to Miami to live with my grandparents when I was twelve. They were so disappointed in me. They didn't know what they had done wrong with me. All my siblings were so well behaved, always doing what they were told. I only did the opposite. But in Miami it only got worse and after three years they sent me back. My grandma couldn't stand it anymore. When I came back I got into a gang. First we were just hanging around, smoking and drinking a little, but over time we got into harder drugs, but didn't have the money for it, so we started stealing, especially cars."

He paused, lost in his memories.

"When I was fifteen we got busted. I served some time in jail. It was hell. I needed a shot so bad, but there was no chance in hell to get any drugs. I had to serve a month, but when I got out I went right back to my friends, starting with the drugs again. That went on until I was nearly eighteen. I had a rag sheet a mile long and then I got a judge who changed my life. He gave me the choice. I could go to prison for a very long time or join the army. I chose the army, and that made the difference. I got control over my life again. I realized I had to stop then and there or I wouldn't live much longer. My life on the street had hardened me. I could fight and I was already comfortable with a gun, never going out without one. I had hardened, but the army set me straight again."

"What happened that made you take so much drugs?"

"I don't know. I was just stupid I guess."

We were silent after this. Thinking back to these years.

"Tell me about your childhood, Babe."

"You know about Morelli?"

He nodded.

"He was the bad boy, the guy your mom warned you from. My mom always told me to stay away from the Morelli boys, but that made it that much more interesting. And Mary Lou and I were best friends even back then. And my sister was a pain in the ass. When I jumped from the garage roof I broke my arm. First I got a lecture from my mom, telling me I shouldn't try to fly, it would be impossible. When she was finished Val started in on me. Telling me how stupid I was. I had ruined her day. Mom had promised to bake with her that day, but then she had to spent it with me in the ER. She hated me for it."

I fell silent. Their constant disapproval of my actions had hurt so much. I still felt the pain now, that much later.

"That bad?"

I just nodded and then I felt his hand come up, wiping away the tears I didn't even know I was crying. He cradled me closer, trying to comfort me. It felt good to be in his arms, to feel his unconditional support.

"I love you, Ranger."

"Love you, too."

We fell silent, keeping watch until it was time to wake up Tank and Bobby.

The next day went much like the day before. Over breakfast I started again to get Fariba to tell us what happened.

"What happened after they brought away the girl?" She was sitting next to Lil and he had his arm around her.

"Nothing. I was shackled and mostly left alone. The guards didn't talk with me."

"Did they do anything to you?"

"You mean hurt me, or rape me?"

I nodded.

"No, nothing like that. But every time they spoke to me they reminded me that what they did to the girl would happen to me, too." She was sobbing again and Lil did his best to calm her down.

"Did you recognize the guards? Can you describe them?"

She nodded. "Two of them were the guards who were to ensure my safety. The rest of them was wearing masks. But they were built like you guys."

"Shit. Do you have an idea how many there are?" She just shook her head.

"Did they tell you when it's your turn?" We all knew what I was talking about. There was no need to clarify it.

"Day after tomorrow." She whispered, scared that they would somehow get to her, that we wouldn't be able to get her out.

I nodded. It was time to get a move on. We had restricted us to five hours of rest, meaning I had only gotten a little more than hours of sleep. It would have to be enough. At that moment our top priority was to get Fariba back into the states, unharmed.

Ranger called ahead to make sure there would be a plane ready to pick her up.

"How are you gonna get a plane here?"

"Some of the guys who served with us have settled in in the area. One call and they are only two hours away. Can't trust the locals."

Wonder where these guys don't know somebody to bail them out if they should run into trouble.

"We know somebody nearly everywhere." There went the ESP again. But somehow it was reassuring.

Fariba was walking. She wasn't particularly fast, but we were faster than the day before. We were carrying all the stuff and she was walking between us. We were running out of time, the guards were catching up with us. We had heard them coming nearer, but hadn't said anything about it. Fariba was jumpy enough. No need to make it worse. Lil and I had been rushing her, trying to get away, while the rest stayed behind to deal with the members of the group.

We still had another day's walk until we would reach the airstrip, maybe longer. But we were running out of time.

Somehow, we made it to the airstrip without major trouble. We walked through the night, not wanting to risk it to be caught. They hadn't been shouting at us, but we were clearly outnumbered. There was no chance to tell how a close up fight would have ended.

When we got there the plane was circling, waiting to get the signal to touch down. Ranger had arranged for them, somehow knowing when we would be there. I had no idea how he did it, but I didn't care. At that point I only wanted to get Fariba on the plane and then get a good night's sleep.

Ranger called and the pilot got the signal. Minutes later the plane finally touched down. We brought Fariba in. We said bye, assured her she would be safe now and left. Ranger had made sure that there was someone with her all the times and gave them final instructions. Back home she would need serious counseling, but after some time she would hopefully be herself again.

We went into a safe distance and watched the plane leave. One problem down, one more to go. At least she would be safe. She had been wearing on our nerves. One person more to take care of, but she had no idea how to protect herself even the slightest bit. She had never had a gun in her hands. She couldn't help with anything.

No we had to take out the threat. Damn. But first we could hopefully eat something and then sleep. Sleep. Sounded damn good right now.


	31. Chapter 30

_Thank you for all your support!_

_Don't own them, don't make any money._

_WARNING: Some violence, but nothing too bad and nothing graphic. _

**Chapter 30**

It had been nearly three months since we had sent Fariba off. We had spent the time evading the guards, but mainly gathering Intel. We had learned a lot about them, but what we had learned wasn't good.

Theses three months we had been wandering around in the woods, starting at the warehouse we had found Fariba in and walking in increasing circles around it, trying to figure out all the hiding spots of this group. We had split up into the teams, as to cover more ground, but it was becoming harder to keep going each day. The heat and humidity was getting to us, we didn't get too much sleep and the food wasn't the best as well. Tank did what he could, but it wasn't that great. And the biggest problem was it wasn't what we were used to. So we were all a little grumpy, jumpy and generally in a bad mood.

We had soon learned that the warehouse was the headquarter, but there was more. All the people involved were gathering there once a week, but in the meantime, they had been nowhere to be found. Until we discovered little huts, scattered throughout the woods in different distances to the warehouse.

We had counted about fifty men, who where apparently without wives. I suspected that they died while giving birth to one of the many children the families in this area normally had, the children now living with relatives, but not with their fathers. There were only men in the group, women just had nothing to say in this culture. So they weren't included in business. I suspected that that was also a reason that Fariba had trusted me almost immediately. She just hadn't been in contact with a woman while she had been held captive, apart from her first night in captivity.

But we had also found out why the group was of such big interest to the government. They were involved in dealing with diamonds on the black market, but that wasn't what the brasses were worried about. They were suspected to have somehow developed a new form of mass destruction. It was only a suspect, but it was enough to be a threat. We hadn't found immediate confirmation for it, but gathering Intel pretty hard anyways. We didn't know who we could trust, so we didn't trust anybody.

When we were sure we had all the Intel we could get, we started planning the takedown. We knew that they were all gathering once a month to discuss the newest whatever they discussed. That would be the moment for us to go in. They would all be in the warehouse, without too much people standing guard outside. The guards had only been there while they had held their hostage. Afterwards these guys had gone back to their regular assignments.

That had brought us to the point we were now. Sitting around and discussing how to take them out all at once.

"We gonna go in next Friday. That's when they have the next gathering according to schedule." Alright Ranger, but how?"

"How?" Tank wanted to know, and he wasn't the only one.

"Any suggestions?"

"I don't think going in, guns blazing would be the best idea." I knew that that was what they had in mind, but there were too much people to take them out that way.

"Better idea?" Lil was very grouchy. He had a lot of problems with the different conditions, his body just couldn't adjust that good, but we had no idea why.

"Go in in advance, plant some bombs big enough to blow up the entire warehouse? Everyone inside should blow up with it and we take out the guards and everyone surviving individually." I had thought about it in advance, trying to figure out how to take them down without close up contact. Somehow I had a problem with that and I remembered that I had refused to go on missions like this. Damn, I hadn't read the contract about that particular mission properly, so now I would have to live with the consequences. Damn.

"Sounds good." Lester, voice of confidence.

"You got enough stuff for that?" Bobby was a little concerned, but so was I. I would be the one to plant the bombs and more important to built them. I had the supplies, but only one ready to be set of at a time. Sure I would have back up while planting them, but I would be solely responsible for the outcome.

"Should be enough, but we need a back up plan nonetheless." They agreed and we settled down to think some more. That was when one of the guys, I didn't even remember who, noticed movement out of the corner of his eye.

"Shit. They are on us." That had happened before, so we kept our stuff ready to go at all times. Before we could scramble to our feet the first bullets came flying. We were wearing our vests now all the time, too. We didn't want to take any unnecessary chances. I was fine with that, I wanted to live to eat ice cream again.

Fortunately there were only four of them and they were pretty bad shooters, so we could take them out before they could cause any damage, but it meant we had to be even more careful.

"Anyone hurt?" Ranger wanted to know.

We all checked for wounds, but we were all unharmed. During the whole action there hadn't been uttered a single word. We had reacted before we had time to think, had worked as a team and taken out the threat.

"How did they find us?"

"Don't know man. Just lucky that Santos saw them." Okay, Lester had apparently been the one to spot them.

"We have to get a move on."

"We can't. We need them all in one place to take them out."

"We don't have the time to wait."

"We need to get out of here as soon as possible, but we need to wait for our chance."

"They'll get to us sooner than later."

"They've caught on that there is someone looking or them."

"We need to make sure to take out the leader at the first try."

"We can't risk it." Everyone was talking at once and I had trouble following. And I was getting dizzy and swooned a little. Something was wrong, but I had no idea what.

"Shit Babe, you're bleeding."

"Huh?" Ranger sounded concerned but I had no idea what he was talking about.

"We didn't you say anything?" He sounded a little pissed now.

Bobby came over. "Let me take a look at it." Thankfully I was only wearing a tank top so he had easy access to my arm. Wonder why I hadn't noticed it when I had myself checked for damage.

Ranger came over as well to have a look at it.

"You just need a band aid, Babe."

Bobby was having non of it, he turned my arm this way and that, trying to determine how much damage had been done.

"Nothing too bad, but I need to clean it and you need stitches or it will never heal." Thankfully it had been my left arm, so I could still shoot.

Bobby tended the wound, cleaning it thoroughly and then stitching me up. It hurt like hell, but I wasn't going to give them the satisfaction to see me wince. I could still take the meds I had taken with me for my cramps.

"So anyone else with a hole somewhere and didn't notice it? Check now. I don't want anyone with serious blood loss. Can't start an IV around here." Bobby was joking again, so I was sure I wasn't hurt too badly or they would have fussed a lot more.

We wandered around a little, trying to find a place safe enough for the night and the sun was already starting to set when we finally found something that met their expectations. I didn't care. I was plain tired and dizzy.

"Who's gonna take first watch?" Ranger, our fearless leader wanted to know.

They discussed back and forth, but I didn't care. It was getting harder by the minute to keep my eyes open, so I just decided to go to sleep. I couldn't wait to take a shower and sleep in a bed again.

I prepared my 'bed' for the night and laid down to sleep. I didn't care about anything. My arm was hurting like hell, but I was pretty sure Bobby wouldn't give me anything strong enough to keep the edge of it. I had thought wrong. He actually gave me some pretty strong meds. I took them and was asleep before they could even decide about the roster for the night.

I awoke the next morning to someone rubbing my back and it finally registered that it was Ranger, trying to get me back into the land of the living. I turned around in his arms and we kissed good morning. We hadn't had much time alone since we had left Trenton, so we treasured every minute we were without one of the others. We cuddled a little, but before long Tank came to tell us that breakfast was ready. That's when I noticed that my arm was throbbing. Damn.

The days until the scheduled takedown were spent trying to gather additional information, but there wasn't much we could find out.

Finally the day before the big gathering had arrived. That night we would go in and plant the bombs. I spent most of the day building them. The guys cleaned their weapons. Generally, we were getting ready for the big day. The air around us was humming with nervous energy. I couldn't wait to get it over with, but I was also dreading the point when I had to activate the bombs. I would take a lot of lives, justified or not, it was going to be hard for me.

We waited until it was night before we went in. There were no guards around, which surprised me, but stranger things have happened. I desperately wanted to believe that they were just careless and hopefully clueless, but there was a feeling of dread pooling in my stomach.

It was finally getting dark and we were getting to go in to plant the bombs. My main problem was that I had been in this building only once, so I had to guess about a lot of factors. Never a good thing. To eliminate as many variables as possible I had made quite powerful bombs to make sure. There was no room for failure. We could deal with a few survivors to fight us, but it was very important to take out as many of them as possible with the explosion of the building.

All the guys had a little experience with bombs, but nothing major, more to the extend 'how to blow up a tank'. Pretty funny under the right circumstances, but not so funny when you are running around in a jungle. Anyways, I had to instruct them how and where I wanted the bombs planted. There was no way in hell that I could plant them all be myself.

After a short lesson we went in. Bobby and Lester would be look out for us. We were wired for communication, but tried to be as silent as possible. I just had a bad feeling.

Fortunately we got the bombs planted without anyone approaching the building or other trouble, so as soon as we were finished we made our way back to our hide out. We had to be extremely careful or they would catch on.

We only slept for a few hours. We had to get into position around the building, so we could take care of everyone who might come running out. We all were buzzing on an adrenaline high, so no one registered how tired we were.

We were in position by 5am, before sunrise. We expected them to arrive around 10am and had planned to blow up the building at 11am. Then we would take care of the rest and head off towards the pick up point, which was four days of walking away.

I had gone into my zone when I settled in to wait. That was something i had learned during my training. Otherwise I would have never been able to stay still for such a long time. At 9.30 the first guys started to arrive. They came with Jeeps, but parked relatively close to the building.

"Damn, we won't be able to use one of their cars. They'll blow up with them."

"You sure, Moxie?" Lil wanted to know.

"Yup, when we are through there shouldn't be much left of it. Make sure to stay out of the range of debris."

After that we fell into silence again, but everything went surprisingly fast. 11Am came around and I had counted 47 men going in, one of them the head of the group.

"Guys, get cover." I whispered.

"10-4."

"Affirmative."

And "Yup." were the answers I got. Time to get the show on the road.

"3- 2- 1."

"KABOOM." The blow was deafening. There was dust everywhere, debris flying around and just plain chaos. There was no way to tell if there was anyone running around.

As soon as the dust had settled we could see people running away. The jeeps had blown up as well, just as I had predicted. As far as I could see there were about five guys running around.

"Five up front."

"Two behind." Came Tank's reply.

No for the ugly part. They spotted us and opened fire, but were no match for us. We took them down and waited around, making sure that the threat was eliminated. When we were sure that nobody was around anymore we went in to make sure that there was nobody left.

"Lil, Moxie, take the left, Santos, Brown, stay outside. Tank and I'll take the right. GO!"

Again he got the affirmatives.

We made a walk through the rest of the building. My bombs had been well placed, so there were no survivors inside. The ones who got outside were no problem anymore.

We stayed around some more and then made our retreat. We couldn't waste too much time. We had made quite some noise, so there was bound to be someone to come and investigate, which meant trouble we didn't need.

That was when everything went black.

_A/N: I know it's shorter than usual, but I had a hard time writing it. Somehow my muse took off and I haven't found her yet. Has anyone seen her?_


	32. Chapter 31

_Thank you to everyone who reviewed. Special thanks to Annie who brought my muse back. You are the best!_

_Don't own them, don't make any money._

**Chapter 31**

"_We have to get her out of here."_

"_What's wrong?"_

"_She ripped her stitches and she's got an infection in that wound."_

"_Her fever isn't breaking. How much more?"_

"_Another 20 miles at least."_

"_She's getting dehydrated. Tell them to have the full equipment on board when they pick us up."_

"_Damn. Anything we can do?"_

"_I can't get an IV started. Risk is too high."_

When I came to I felt like I was on a ship. Everything was moving and I couldn't get my feet onto ground. I struggled to move, but something was keeping me imprisoned, so I struggled harder.

"Babe, come on. Open your eyes for me."

I was moaning, I hurt so bad. And I had no idea where I was, but I wasn't moving anymore.

"Come on, Babe. Please."

Damn, he knew how this word got to me, so I struggled to open my eyes, only to shut them again against the bright sunlight.

"Come on, Moxie. Open your eyes." Bobby was pressing. Why did these guys sound so concerned? And what the hell happened? My head was still cloudy, so I was guessing it couldn't be good.

I made to sit up with my eyes closed, but someone pushed me down before I had lifted my head even 5 inches from the ground.

"Water." I croaked, but someone held a bottle to my lips and I sipped some water for the first time in I didn't know how long.

"What happened?"

"Open your eyes and I'll tell you." Ranger wasn't giving in now.

So I opened my eyes. I wanted to know what was going on, but I did it more slowly, letting my eyes adjust to the light. When I looked up there were five pairs of concerned eyes staring down at me.

"What the hell happened?" My voice was getting stronger, although still croaky, but I felt really weak.

"Long or short version?" Bobby wanted to know.

"Long." I was exhausted and my eyes started to drift close again. I wanted to go to sleep so badly.

"You remember getting shot?"

I nodded.

"You had an infection in it, but didn't notice it. When we had the takedown you somehow ripped your stitches. Don't ask me how it happened, because I've got no idea. It bled a lot and you passed out. When you didn't answer over your mike we took care of the guys running around and came to investigate."

"How long have I been out?" Damn. I should have noticed that an infection had settled in.

"Day and a half."

"Did I miss something important?"

Ranger took over.

"There were a few survivors, but they aren't anymore. You gave us quite a scare..."

Ranger was still talking, but he was starting to fade into the background, my eyes dropped closed.

"Babe. Open your eyes. Please."

He was shaking me, but I couldn't help it. Darkness engulfed me once again.

When I woke up next the sun started to set, leaving us in twilight. The guys were silently sitting around a fire, Tank obviously cooking something. I sat leaned up against Ranger, no idea why, but it felt good.

Apparently he had felt me stirring. "Babe?"

"Hmm?"

"Was about time you woke up." I was prepared for much, but not for this. Why were they so hostile, especially Bobby? They all didn't look too happy with me.

Before Bobby could tear into me Ranger gave me a bottle of water.

"What's wrong?"

Bobby was angry, way more angry than I had ever seen one of them. "Why the hell didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you what?"

"You had a nasty infection in your arm, maybe even a sepsis. And you want to tell me you didn't notice? It was touch and go for a while. You lost a lot of blood. The antibiotics didn't do their job. I've got you on nearly all the antibiotics I've got with me. And your fever is still very high."

"Oh."

"That's it? Oh? Are you nuts?" Bobby was yelling at me. Not a good idea when you#ve got a headache as big as mine.

"What the hell do you expect me to say? I'm sorry? It won't happen again? I can't say that. It didn't hurt. I took a look at it that morning and everything seemed to heal nicely."

"Fuck." Apparently he was calming down a little.

"What do you mean? Fuck?"

"Seems like some insect or something bit you and you reacted allergic or it was some poison."

"Shit."

"That's what I told you."

"Thanks a lot. Can I get something to eat?"

"You get some broth. Only fluids until I've got the chance to check you out properly, so we'll know what happened."

Tank handed me a bowl of broth. Not the most delicious, but better than nothing. I was still dead tired and moving was difficult. If I hadn't been sitting up against Ranger I wouldn't have been able to sit up at all. His arms around my waist steadied me.

Ranger carried me to my sleeping bag. I had tried to stand up, but would have fallen right into the fire had Ranger not caught me.

It took us another two and half days to get to the pick up point. The guys were carrying me, because I still was too weak to stand, let alone walk. It was annoying for all of us, but mostly for the guys. I was sleeping a lot, drifting in and out of it.

When I was sleeping I had nightmares. About Abruzzi, Cone, Stiva and most importantly about Scrog. I was flailing my arms around, what made it even more difficult to carry me.

In the end they discussed knocking me out. They didn't know I was awake at that time, but I sure as hell didn't want to be drugged more than necessary. Before I could voice my opinion Bobby stepped in and decided that Ranger would have to carry me, because I seemed to be the calmest while in his arms. Fine with me.

We finally reached our destination, but had to wait until the sun went down to be picked up. When it was finally dark a chopper came to pick us up. I didn't remember that much about the trip back to Washington. I only woke a few times on the flight back. The first time was when Bobby was drawing blood and getting me started on an IV and some time later when he woke me up to force some meds down my throat.

When I finally came to, I was staring at a white ceiling and it smelled of disinfectant and I was lying in a hospital bed, feeling slightly better.

Someone was holding my hand, but my mind was still a little foggy around the edges, so it took me a while to sort out that it was Ranger holding my hand.

I finally gathered the strength to open my eyes.

"Babe." Ranger sounded relieved.

I wanted to say something, but my throat was raw. Ranger held a cup of water to my lips.

"Slowly. Take only sips." He didn't need to tell, I knew the procedure.

"Do they know what's wrong with me?"

"Bobby was right. You ripped the stitches during the takedown. That caused the blood loss and your fainting. The infection was caused by some sort of mosquito. It bit you on your arm near the wound, so it infected. Your system didn't stand a chance against the stuff this mosquito pumped into you combined with the already tender and healing area. They gave you something and you'll be okay."

"What about the rest of the takedown?" I was surethey had told me sometime, but for the life of me, I couldn't remember.

"Cuts and scrapes, but nothing serious. But you sure where right when you told us to stay out of the way of debris."

"Sorry. Might be that I had a little bit too much contraband placed. I wanted to be sure that we got them all."

"There were only five or so running around. But they aren't running anymore. Got them all taken care of."

"Where there anyone following us out?"

"Nope. Silent retreat without any trouble."

"'Kay. When can I get out of here?"

"We'll go back to Trenton as soon as you're discharged. We already had the debriefing."

"Who set Fariba up?" That was important to me.

"Why do you want to know? It's not our responsibility." Now I was getting a little angry.

"Oh yes it is. The guy who arranged for her guards is the reason we even had to go. And I'll make sure to rearrange his face before we head to Trenton."

"Damirez."

"Motherfucker."

"That about sums it up."

"When can you spring me?"

"They want to keep you for another night."

"Oh. How long have I been out?"

"Two days since we landed."

"Damn, I keep wasting time."

"Yeah. Don't ever scare me like this again."

Before I could say anything the door flew open and the rest of the team came marched in.

"Hey Moxie. You better?" Les looked concerned, like the rest of the group.

"Yeah. Take a seat guys. You up for some ass kicking?"

"Who?" Tank wanted to know.

"Damirez."

"Why?" Lil was curious now.

"He was the one to plan Fariba's trip."

"Shit." Came in unison from the guys. I didn't know why, but I had the feeling they weren't feeling any sympathy for him.

"You up for it Moxie?" Tank looked like he wanted to talk me out of it, but I had to do this.

"Sure. He deserves it."

"Okay, we'll back you up." I nodded.

"Babe, while you have been out of it, we have been thinking about your partner problem. What do you think about Lil being your permanent partner?"

"You up for it, Lil? You've gonna have to put up with Lula and Connie, Mooner and Doogie, Eula, showings at the funeral home with my Grandma, cars blowing up. The list goes on. Do you want me to continue?"

"No worries. But who the hell are the people you talked about?"

"Connie is the office manager at the bonds office we work for. Lula is a former ho who is now sometimes files clerk and until I got training my sidekick. We'll work with her together sometimes, as I'm still her backup. Mooner and Doogie are two stoners. They are my regular skips. You have to let them watch whatever marathon is on on TV and afterwards you can bring them in without problems. Fast Food will make them came faster."

"'Kay."

"By the way, do you eat junk food?"

"Once in a while."

"Good enough. Eula is another of my regulars. She's homeless, but comes willingly most of the time."

"What about your Granny?"

"I'm not sure I should tell you before you said that you'll partner with me." She sure had the ability to scare him off.

"Come on, it can't be that bad."

"You have no idea." Was muttered by several of the men sitting around my bed.

"Now you've got my interest. What did she do?" I groaned. I so didn't want to tell him, but Lester took the job.

"She blew up a funeral home, loves Steph's job, stunned her father during dinner, shot a chicken during dinner, tries to peek into the coffin when isn't open at a viewing. She'll pinch your ass and try to cop a feel. You need to be careful around her, Bro."

"Damn."

"She sounds worse than some of the missions we've been on."

"You've got no idea." Ranger butted in.

"Are you gonna do it or not?" I was getting impatient here.

"Sure. Sounds like fun. Any chance of a hot single lady friend of you running around to hook up with?"

"I'm gonna warn you once Lil. Disrespect any of my friends I'll make sure that the girl told the truth about your measurements. Did I make myself clear?"

Lil had paled visibly.

"Sure." The rest of the guys was laughing at him.

The guys bantered a little back and forth, but I was tired again.

"Ranger, get in bed with me, please."

He looked down at me, clearly confused as to my request, and raised his eyebrow.

"I'm dead tired and want to sleep cuddled up to you. These goons can stand guard outside the door."

He didn't hesitate to shred his boots and deposited his armory in easy reach on the nightstand.

"Scoot over, I'm tired, too."

We got comfortable on the small bed, lying on our sides with him spooning me and I fell asleep. When I woke up there was a doctor looming over me, startling me.

"Good morning, Miss Plum. I'm Doctor Serdez. You need another two or three days of rest. After that you can slowly start getting back into the swing of things. You should have no further problems. We were able to get the infection under control after we figured out what was wrong. You can go to your physician to get the stitches removed in a week. Until then no sparring, please." Ranger had woken up now, too.

"How do you know?"

"You're in a military hospital. I know what army associates look like."

"Good. Can I have something to eat?"

"I believe your team mates are taking care of it. But don't tell anyone I allowed it. They frown upon stuff like this. Anything with sugar is considered contraband around here."

"That's what I thought. So you're telling me I eat, then I sign my release papers and then I'm free to go?"

"Got it in one."

The doc left and I made to get dressed before the guys arrived with breakfast. I got dressed for combat, full armory. Wouldn't do any good to visit our friend without making our intentions clear from the beginning.

Tank was the first to enter the room. "Wow. You really mean business."

"Sure I mean business. You know what they threatened Fariba with. That was at least partly his fault. I'm still not sure he wasn't somehow involved with them."

"Eat your donuts. Then we can spring you and you can get him."

I ate my donuts like the good girl I sometimes was and we were on our way to visit Mr Damirez. They guys were dressed like me and we walked into the building housing his office like we ruled the world. I was sure we made quite a sight. Me in the lead, bad ass black with a white bandage around my arm, most of the armory visible, and five bulky, heavily armed but absolutely handsome guys behind me, watching my back. We all wore black sunglasses, just for the bad ass factor.

We didn't need to ask where Damirez' office was. We had walked by his office when we had gone to sign the contracts, so I knew where I had to go. We reached his office and went in without knocking. Damirez was slouching in his chair and on his phone with someone. I didn't hesitate to disconnect his call for him which brought me his undivided attention.

"What the hell?"

"You remember Fariba Davoodi Mohajer?" My voice was low and menacing.

"What about her?"

"You organized her trip to Ethiopia and took special care of her guards."

"I arranged for local guards."

"And that's the problem you idiot."

"What are you talking about? She was perfectly safe with them." He was getting a little agitated. Maybe he should get a little frightened as well.

"She wasn't safe with them. They were part of the group we took down. Her own guards took her hostage."

"Oh." His eyes were as big as saucers. Stupid dumbass.

"Oh? That's all you gonna say? They threatened to do FGM on her."

"What the hell are you talking about?" He was screaming at me, but that question let my jaw go slack.

Before I could stop myself I had crunched his nose. "You mean you've got no idea what you sent her into? No idea what they could have done to her? What they did to a little girl in front of her and forced her to watch?"

He shook his head.

"Ranger, please explain it to him. I don't have the energy for it."

Ranger had the guy up against the wall before he could shake his head and Ranger explained what they wanted to do to Fariba. When he was finished with his explanation Damirez looked a little green.

"Is she talking to a psychiatrist?"

"No, why should she?"

"Are you so dumb or are you just playing dumb?"

"Okay, you are dumb. Who's your superior?"

He mumbled a name I didn't catch, but Ranger seemed to know him.

"Okay guys, let's go talk to him."

We left Damirez' office and Ranger led the way to the other guy. We knocked and waited to be announced by the secretary.

"Damn, Moxie, you didn't even get to rough him up properly."

"Yeah, damn shame. Who's gonna spar with me. I've got some excess energy to burn." This got me some chuckles.

In the end we convinced Mr Damirez' superior to fire him and arranged for Fariba to get counseling.

Mission accomplished we went to parking lot, where mysteriously two RangeMen were waiting for us. Wonder who might have called them. It were the same guys who had brought us down. I still didn't know them, so I just said hi and got in, after I pulled some sweats out of my pack and a shirt out of Ranger's.

I changed and put my armory away. When the guys finally got in I was already asleep and we were finally on our way back home.


	33. Chapter 32

_Standard disclaimer applies._

_Please let me know what you think._

**Chapter 32**

The ride home was pretty uneventful. The only interesting stuff was right at the start.

"Who knows we're coming home?" Ranger asked our driver, whose name I still didn't know.

"Hal, Ram, Jay and I."

"Anyone else?"

"No."

Assured that my mom wouldn't be there to lecture me, I drifted off. I awoke sometime later when we were nearing Trenton again.

"Have a nice nap, Babe?"

I looked up at him. Ranger looked tired as well, but I was pretty sure he hadn't taken a nap.

"Yup. You should have taken one, too, you know."

"Unsecured environment."

"Ranger. You are sitting in a bulletproof car. What more do you need? Our driver, whose name I don't know by the way, is way more alert then the three of us together. You know as well as me that we left our guard down once we got into the chopper. You are dead tired. When was the last time you slept?"

"Don't know, when we were flown in? And I took a nap when I stayed the night with you." Was he serious?

"Ranger that was 3 days ago. You know that a nap isn't enough! You need to sleep."

"Damn, you sound like Momma."

I had to grin. That little slip in control showed me how tired he really was.

"No. I sound like the woman who loves you, the woman who's concerned about you."

"You are right, Babe." He leaned over to kiss me and before long we pulled into the underground garage.

Thankfully the garage was empty and quiet. I didn't think I could have handled the big welcome like I got it when I came back from training. I had slept a lot the last days and was still tired. I couldn't even begin to imagine how the guys felt. They had been sick with worry about me and hadn't gotten much sleep.

We left all the stuff in the cars. Someone would unload them for us. I only grabbed the small back with my armory in it and then had a problem. I had taken my boots off to change into the sweats and didn't want to put them on again. That's when I remembered that I had worn flip flops for the trip into DC. Problem solved we finally made our way up to the control room.

When we left the elevator the guys who weren't in the field were working, totally unsuspecting. Until Woody spotted us.

"They are back!" He yelled it, so the entire building must have heard him.

All the little notions, the clutter, the normal working noise, everything ceased. You could have heard a pin drop at that moment. All the guys stood frozen, surprised to no end. When their spell was finally broken, they all rushed forward to welcome us back, inspect us for obvious wounds, limps, the usual.

Hal was the first to reach me and he engulfed me in a hug, unfortunately putting a lot of pressure on my wound. I had laid off the pain meds already, although the doc had advised me to take them a little longer, so it hurt.

"Oww." I yelped.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Hal. I've got one single boo boo and you manage to find it the second you touch me." That caused him to chuckle.

"Anyone else hurt or was it only the Bombshell who caused the trouble?" Ram wanted to know. When I looked closer that most of the men looked tired. Wonder what was up with that, but I was too tired to care.

"Nope, as far as I know, I was the trouble kid. What else did you expect? That's why they took me along, were afraid it might get boring without me."

"You got that right, Babe."

I was handed around, everyone giving me a hug. The guys received their slaps on the back, when one of them finally asked.

"So Moxie, what happened to your arm?"

I was back in Ranger's arms by that time and he knew I wouldn't tell. But before Ranger could even think about telling Bobby had already started.

"It wasn't pretty but you won't get the details."

The guys talked a little back and forth, but I didn't seriously try to keep up. I knew that we would get the rundown of what had happened while we were away in tomorrow's meeting, so I wasn't worried.

"I don't like to interrupt, but I'm beat."

"Babe, you sleep a whole damn lot."

"You can never get too much sleep. And you are beat too. When is shift change?" I addressed Hal.

He had a look at his watch and told me that the next shift would come on in another hour.

"I'll head up to bed. Do what you want, but you all should try to catch up on some sleep. I've got no idea what it was, but it has you all tired."

"How the hell do you know this, Moxie. You walked in twenty minutes ago, nobody said anything and you know that we had a lot of stress."

"Ranger, maybe these guys need a few class. Throwing knives, reading body language, stuff like this." I could feel him chuckle behind me. I bent my head back so that I could look at him. "Throwing knives is a class I will teach. For all of you. And maybe we'll throw in darts as well."

From the look in my eyes he knew that I was serious. It had been unnecessarily risky that I was the only one who had been comfortable with the darts to knock out the guards. It was a simple move to get some time without doing serious damage.

"Anything for you."

"Can we get to sleep now?"

"Yeah." He picked me up in his arms, intending to carry me up to our apartment.

"Uh, where's Lil gonna crash?"

Lester answered me. "He's gonna bunk with until there's an empty apartment for him."

"Kay. Now let's head up."

Without another word Ranger finally got on the elevator. I didn't think could have kept it up much longer. After all the open space and loneliness all the people herded so close around us was a little overwhelming.

"Is it always like this?"

"What?" Oops, guess he was too tired to ESP.

"That they all come running and corner you when you come back from a mission?"

By now we had reached the apartment and he walked us straight to the bathroom to take the first shower on over three months.

"Usually it's worse. When they know when you are coming back everyone is there, like when we welcomed you back. Today was the light version."

"Truthfully? I hated it. I felt cornered and had to suppress the urge to shoot them."

"It'll will get better. I promise." He had set me down on my feet, but was cradling me in his arms.

I had no idea why, but I was bawling, huge sobs shaking my body. I guessed it was all the excess adrenaline and stress working it's way out of my system. Ranger held me until I had myself under control again and we got in the shower.

"I would love to make love to you tonight, but I#m afraid one or both of us would fall asleep."

"I need to get a new shot anyways."

We washed each other and when we were finally clean after a lot of shampooing we got out. Squishy clean, but still pretty hairy. I hadn't had the chance to shave since we left for DC and was too tired to even attempt it. I would only end up with cuts everywhere.

We went to bed, although it was early afternoon. We didn't even eat before we went to bed, we were just too tired. We slept straight through until 8 the next morning. No running for us. I was on limited activity and Ranger had had enough workout for quite some time, carrying me the whole distance from the warehouse to the pick-up point.

When I emerged from the shower, I had taken the time to shave my legs and other parts that desperately needed it, Ella had already brought breakfast up. Yum, normal food again. And she had brought me fresh, hot donuts and coffee.

"Uh, Ranger?"

"Yeah?"

"I totally forgot to call my parents yesterday to tell them that we're back safe and sound."

"Don't worry. Protocol is that control calls the family and tells them that you're back and will get in contact once you slept and stuff."

"Thanks. My Mom would deprive me of cake forever if she found out I was back before I talked to her."

"Couldn't let that happen." His smile was mischievous.

We made our way down to the meeting which was scheduled for 10am, later than usual, but they all knew how tired you can be when you come back from a mission.

The conference room was full, every RangeMen available had come to get the news on the mission, problems, what the mission was about, stuff like this.

Ranger opened the meeting with a nod to Hal and a more or less barked "Report."

Hal started reviewing the happenings since we had been gone, contracts that needed to be signed, jobs that had been finished, about jobs that were still going on, new contracts, fulfilled contracts, stuff like this. I tried really hard to follow, but it wasn't easy.

Ranger than introduced Lil to the guys who didn't know him, but most had heard of him, and told them that he was my partner.

When Ranger finally ended the meeting I was ready to crawl into bed again, but m sleep would have to wait a little.

First point on the list of things to do was my 'appointment' with Bobby. He wanted to check the wound. He dragged me down to his office to inspect it. He poked and prodded, making it hurt worse than before. It didn't look that bad anymore. Sure, my complete left upper arm was an ugly color, but the swelling had gone down a lot. He told me to wait at least another three day before I started working out again.

I caught up with Lil and we were on our way to work down my list. First stop was my gyn's office. I needed a new shot. I didn't care that Lil was waiting in the car for me, knowing what was going on. I deposited the majority of my armory in the car for the time being and went in, emerging 15 minutes lated and cleared for my favorite activity. He grinned at me when I got in the car and began strapping on my various weapons. The whole damn company knew what kind of birth control I was on. Lucky for him he restricted his teasing to the minimum. I wasn't the most patient person ever, but tired, I was downright cranky.

Next stop was my parents'. I warned Lil what might happen and what to look out for before we went inside. Fortunately Mom and Grandma were out grocery shopping, so I just said hi to my dad. He asked how I was, I introduced Lil and we promised to catch up later. No need to tell him the details, he already knew what he was allowed to know through Mo probably.

From there we made our way to the bonds office. It was too early for lunch and too late for breakfast, so I drove directly to the bonds office. I wanted to say hi and pick up the files.

When we went in the girls gaped at Lil like they do at every RangeMan. I had given him a few aspects of the both of them, namely former professions and connections, but not more than this. He would get to know them pretty good when we worked together.

When Lula's and Connie's mouthes finally shut again, they registered that I was standing there as well. I was pretty sure we made quite a sight. Both in badass black, armed to the teeth and with dark sunglasses and wearing vests. I hadn't even thought about it, I had just stripped it on. I actually looked like Ranger, hair in a ponytail and diamond studs in my ears. They both stood up and raced towards me, engulfing me in a bear hug of epic proportions. Lil looked a little stunned at that heartfelt welcome.

"Skinny white girl, you're back."

"Yup."

"Let me have a look at you." Lula was curious and tried to deprive me of my leather jacket. Not a good idea as it hid some serious weapons who one might consider illegal, as well as the dressing on my wound Bobby had thought necessary.

"Not a good idea, Lula. Just stop, please." I got that crowded feeling again. Lil noticed that I shrunk backwards and used the opportunity to introduce himself. Thankfully Lula and Connie backed away a little so I could breath again.

"What's going on Steph?" Connie wanted to know. They had noticed that I wasn't as enthusiastic to their hugs as usual.

"We came back yesterday afternoon. Have to get used to life in a city again."

"What do you mean?"

Lil answered for me. "We were only the six of us for over three months. It's a weird feeling to be amongst other people again. And crowds make you feel like you're suffocating at the beginning."

They stared at him with big eyes. Lula found her voice back first.

"Okay, you told us to call you Lil, but the hell are you?"

I answered that question for him. We had talked about it, so I knew how much he wanted to reveal. "He's my permanent partner."

"But you look familiar." Connie stated, she was the one of the both to have the most contact with the Merry Men when they came to pick up files and deposit body receipts.

"He's Lester's brother."

"Cool." Lula was probably already thinking about single lady friends of her who might be interested, but Lil seemed to be pretty interested in Connie. Something to think about later.

"Connie, you've got any files for RangeMan?"

"There are two that came in this morning. One of these hunks was in yesterday. Oh, and Mooner needs a ride."

"'Kay, me these. Do you know the name of the guy?"

"No, but it was the scary one with the flaming skull." She looked a little frightened.

"That would be Cal." It was unusual to send Cal out for stuff like this. He was a great guy, but an even worse conversationalist than Ranger. And he tended to scare people and Connie apparently was one of the scared ones.

We did the necessary paper work and I had Connie give me the form to get Lil the authorization to sign for the files.

"See you later guys." And we finally leave the office.

"You okay, Moxie?"

"Getting there. How long takes it to get used to it again?"

"A couple of days, a week at the latest. But don't force it. You're already doing really good." We were getting back in the car and I was driving, straight to McDonald's so we could bribe Mooner.

"When I came back from my first mission, it was terrible. We had been gone for eight months, only the six of us and we all were suffering PTSD. Now I can't tell you what happened, but it was bad. It took me weeks to come back to myself and months to get fully functional again. I was scared I would hurt someone. It was hard to become a civilian again, to fight against the urge to shoot someone who startled you. It was a nightmare to go grocery shopping. But that's all a part of it. You have to fight it or you carry on with these jobs."

He had a far- away look in his eyes, obviously remembering this particular mission. I left him to his thoughts, knowing he would talk when he was ready.

I drove over to Mooner and we walked up to the door where Mooner was already waiting for us.

"Hey Dudette, you're back."

"Yup."

"Oh, did I forget my court date again?" He looked actually surprised. Stoner.

"Yeah. Can we go now?" I knew that when he wanted to watch whatever marathon was on I had no chance than to wait.

"Oh, you brought lunch. Sure we can go now, but I need to be back in an hour before Star Wars starts."

"No problem. Come on."

Lil had standing beside me, watching the scene unfold with astonishment. I knew that he would ask me later.

At the cop shop we brought Mooner in to get rescheduled. I had already called Vinnie, so he would come and bond him out again.

We had Mooner processed. Paper work ready, when I heard Morelli coming up behind me. So not what I needed right now. The other cops had kept their distance, but Morelli obviously didn't catch up on the vibes I was sending.

"So Cupcake," he sneered, "you decided to grace us with your presence?"


	34. Chapter 33

_Standard disclaimer applies._

_Warning for mild language._

_Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far, and to Annie for helping me out with ideas. Thanks, Babe._

**Chapter 33**

"What do you want, Joe?"

"Why so twitchy? Don't you want to talk to one of your longest friends. And who's the goon with you?"

"Joe, shut up. We just came back yesterday and I'm in no mood for this."

"What do you mean, 'we' came back yesterday?" He was getting angry, Lil forgotten. Not a smart move.

"We were in the wind, as Ranger puts it." No need to give up further information.

"Yeah, I got that. Nobody has seen you for more than three months. Not even your mom knew where you were."

"I didn't tell Mom where I was going, because first, it's confidential, and secondly I didn't know it myself until we were flown out." I was getting a bad feeling. Joe was coming nearer and nearer and I was retreating.

"Who went with you? And why can't you stand still?" He was hovering above me, not a good idea in my current situation.

"The whole core team went, including Lil." Lil was standing slightly behind me, keeping an eye out for trouble, but not interfering in my discussion with Joe.

At the mentioning of the whole core team Joe looked up. "The core team? Shit." He was angry and yelling at me, drawing the attention of everyone around us. We had gathered quite a crowd, and Joe hadn't even noticed that his voice was rising. "You could have been killed." He took another step forward and grabbed my arms, shaking me.

That was when my training kicked in. He was holding me tight, but he wasn't the first to do so. I knew how to get out of his hold. I let my weight sag a little, changing his balance and was free. I followed it through with some fancy throw TK had taught me and had him to the floor, face down, gun to his head. I didn't think about what I was doing, I just did.

Thankfully Lil reacted before I could shoot Joe, but it was a close call. Lil was crouching down in front of me, whispering in Spanish to me.

"Moxie. Calm down. He's not the enemy. Let him go." He repeated it over and over, until I felt Ranger's presence in the room. He crouched down beside Lil, looking at me. When I finally met his eye he reached his hand out, waiting for me to take it.

I took his hands and he stood, pulling me up against him, engulfing me in the safety of his embrace. He pried my gun out of my fingers and let his hands run soothing circles on my back.

"What happened, Babe?"

I was snuggled into his chest, so my words were muffled, but he understood me. "I don't know. I've been feeling off, the whole day, I was totally overwhelmed in the office yesterday, and I freaked when Connie and Lula hugged me this morning. And then Morelli started yelling and he grabbed my arms and started shaking me. And then I just reacted. I...I could have killed him." I was sobbing, tears running down my cheeks. I didn't know what was wrong with me, but it scared the hell out of me.

"Shh, calm down Babe. You didn't shot him. Everything is okay. Nobody was hurt."

"But what's wrong with me? I didn't even know what I was doing until you came. It didn't even really register what Lil was saying to me."

"You're going to be fine. You have to readjust to civilian life again. Your senses are still tuned on combat mode. He was in your personal space and you reacted. It was your training kicking in. There's nothing wrong with that. That's what we were trained for. In a combat situation that could have saved your life. You'll get used to it again, and it gets easier. We all felt that way when we came back from our first missions." He had finally calmed me down enough that I felt strong enough to leave the safety of his arms.

"What the hell happened here Cupcake? Why did you throw me on the floor?"

I had no idea how to answer him, but thankfully Ranger did it for me. "Have you ever been on a mission, Morelli?" He had switched back to English I noticed. It didn't even cross my mind that we had been talking Spanish all along.

He shook his head.

"Ever been out of communication, nobody knew where you were, what you were doing? No social contact other than the members of your team?"

Again he shook his head.

"Then you have no right to judge her, or any of us. You have no idea how it is to come back and to be thrown in the normal life of people who can't even begin to imagine what happened while you were gone. Everybody expects you to act like you were on vacation, but nothing could be further from the truth. You can be thankful that Lil was with her or she might have followed through with it."

The guys around us were speechless, staring at Ranger. They had never heard him say that much, but one after one, they started nodding, understanding what had happened here.

"Cupcake, you mean to tell me that you've got the same training he has? You do the same fucking jobs for the government?" Joe was still pissed, but thankfully he kept his distance. I still hadn't left Ranger's arms.

"You remember when I left for more than a half year?"

I was looking him straight in the eye, willing him to understand how important that was for me. He nodded.

"I went to get training, Seals and Rangers. And yes I do the same fucking jobs for the government as Ranger, because we are a team."

"Fuck. Do you even know what kind of contract you signed? You can't get out of a contract like this until they throw you out. Are you fucking insane?" He was yelling again and I fought to keep my cool.

"Actually Joe, I know damned well what kind of contract I signed, and I can end it whenever I want to."

"You believe that? The shit he keeps feeding you?"

He had crossed a line and he didn't even realize it.

"Sorry to break it to you, but I'm not stupid. I can read and I read the contract before I signed it. And yes, I can get out of it whenever I want to. Now let me alone, I'm done with you. You're wearing my patience thin. I came back yesterday, dead tired on my feet. I do my job and bring Mooner down to reschedule and you all you do is yell at me. You should be fucking happy that I didn't shoot you. I'm not afraid of my gun anymore, and I don't miss. I went through fucking sniper training you stupid bastard. Now let me the hell alone."

"But this job will get you killed! When are you going to come to your senses. Your incapable of doing this job."

"When are you going to stop with this shit? You should know by now that I'm damn well capable of doing my job. You should be freaking thankful that I', a bounty hunter, that it was me Vinnie gave your file when you went FTA. I helped you to clean our name you maroon. Had it been Ranger's job to bring you in, he would have brought you in, no questions asked and you would be rotting in jail now for a homicide. Don't you get it? I love my job and I'll continue with it. And now shut up."

I felt better after my rant, but now that the adrenaline was wearing off I also remembered that Mooner was still lurking around somewhere. And my arm started to hurt again.

"Let's go home." Ranger said from behind me.

"What about Mooner?"

"Lil, can you take him?"

"Yeah, I'll find his house and the way back."

He nodded, grabbed Mooner's arm to steer him out and was off.

Ranger tugged me into his side and we walked out to his car. I stopped and looked up at him. "How did you know what was going on?"

"Eddie called me. He told me that you had Morelli down on the floor with a gun to his head and Lil squatting in front of you. I told him to keep the rest at bay and I went down. I was in the area anyways."

"Thank you. I heard that Lil was talking, but I had no idea what he was telling me. It was like a annoying fly you can't shake off, but it didn't register what he said. Without your showing up I have no idea what I might have done to him." I was actually pretty calm about it now, although slightly embarrassed.

"I got you, Babe. I love you."

"I love you, too." And I stood up on my tiptoes and kissed him, with passion and heat.

Ranger was the first to pull back. "Let's go home. I know just the thing to get your mind off of things.

We drove home in silence each of us in our zones. I was still mulling over the day's events, trying to wrap my mind around what happened.

"Ranger, why did I freak like this and you and Lil didn't have these problems?" Sure, he was in his zone, but I had hope that he would maybe actually answer me.

"Two reasons. One, we're used to this kind of shit, we've out on a lot of missions, so that makes it easier when the mission wasn't too bad. Two, we've had two more days to adjust to normal life again. While you were out of it, we had time to socialize and change our mind sets back. You'll get to it. You just have to be a little patient."

We had reached the garage by now and he was giving me his wolf grin. We got out and made our way up to the apartment, using the elevator.

"Did you have lunch yet?"

It was actually after 2pm, and I was starving, but stupid Morelli had distracted me.

"No. Did Ella bring something up?"

"No, but there's enough in the fridge to fix sandwiched. That okay with you?"

"As long as you make them."

Ranger made the sandwiches and we ate them, sitting at the breakfast bar. He cleaned up and told me to go ahead and get settled on the bed. I didn't know what he had in mind, so I just made a trip to the bathroom and then settled down in my thinking position.

When Ranger walked in his eyes darkened. "Not what I had in mind, but we'll get to it. Undress and I'll give you the massage of your life." Damn, there was that wolf grin again.

I undressed as he shed his clothes too.

"Settle down on your stomach and relax." He got up and turned the radio on, switching to some soft jazz. Not loud, only barely audible.

He came back to bed with a bottle of massage oil in hand, warming it up a little. Ranger settled down on top of my butt, legs astride my hips.

He poured some oil down my back and began massaging me. He was right. This massage was the best I had ever received and it didn't take long for me to fall asleep.

When I woke up it was getting dark outside. I got up, did my business in the bathroom and was about to walk into the living room when I heard that there were people talking. Oops, better got dressed before I joined them.

Wearing sweat pants and one of Ranger's shirts I walked out to find the assembled core team sitting on the dinning room table.

Ranger walked towards me. "Hey Babe, decided to join the living again?" He kissed me.

"Yep. I'm hungry. But what are all the guys doing here?"

"We had to discuss some business." Before I could start he added "I'll fill you in later."

The guys nodded their greeting and left. We had dinner and got back into bed. We talked a little about the day and I fell asleep again.

The next morning we got up to go running. After our shower which was surprisingly only to clean up, Ranger dropped the Bombshell on me. "There's a cookout Saturday afternoon."

"What do you mean?"

"The guys thought it would be fun to have a cookout, so they organized one."

"Who's invited?" Somehow I had a bad feeling about this. A very bad feeling.

"Don't look so scared. It's only my family and your family, as well as the guys on stuff who don't have to work."

"Damn. I have every right to be scared. And where will the party be?"

"On the roof of this very building. We've had this kind of party here before."

"Who's gonna prepare all the food? My family will want to see where I live and Val is going to nag. Albert will annoy the hell out of everybody and I've got nothing to wear. And what about Lula and Connie and Mary Lou and the families of the guys?" I was freaking a little bit.

"Stop. Ella's going to cook, as well as your mom, Momma and Abuela. You don't have to cook. We can invite Connie and Mary Lou as well, Lula was coming anyways. Do you want to invite only Mary Lou or her whole family?"

"Her whole family? Lenny could use some time off, and Mare would have some hot guys to look at."

"Hot guys?" The corner of his mouth was slightly tipped upwards. Great, I was amusing him again.

"All your guys are hot." He started to scowl at me. "But you're still the hottest." He grinned and kissed me.

"Good to know. So back to your freaking, nobody has to come into this apartment if you're uncomfortable with it. It's your decision, but you don't have to decide now. As for Val and the Kloughn, we'll find a way to shut them up. Maybe we can deposition them in one of the holding cells for the time being. Angie will just be herself and MA is pretty comfortable around the guys. As for the families of the guys, only a few of them are married, but some have girlfriends who have to clearing to come into the building. Fears lessened?"

"Yeah. Thanks. But that was the most I have ever heard you say when you weren't talking about a job."

He kissed me again and we made our way downstairs to get to work. Ranger went to catch up on paperwork and I started to spread the word. That was when Lil caught up with me.

"Hey Moxie, how ya doin'?"

"Better than yesterday, that's for sure. I've decided that maybe we should stay in today."

"Fine with me." He looked a little sheepish. "I know that the guys are calling you Bomber or Bombshell on occasion. Is it okay with you when I do so as well?" That explained the look.

"As long as you stay with Moxie when we're on the street it's okay. You already heard about the cook out?"

"Yeah. You up for it?"

"Should be. I'll probably go in lighter armed as yesterday, and besides Val the people who come should be pretty supportive, although my mom will me an earful because I was shot."

We had settled down in the break room to chat, mugs of coffee in hand.

"Who was the guy yesterday?" I looked interested, like it mattered what I told him.

"Joe Morelli, vice cop, former fiancé and ex-boyfriend. I broke up with him the day I left for Mexico. He always wanted to marry him, pop some bambinos out for him and cook for him. He never understood, that I would be going nuts living like this."

"So he has given you shit for how long now?" He seemed to be a little angry.

"A little longer than four years."

"How long do you know each other?"

I told him about the history that tied Joe and me together, about the choo-choo incident and the happenings behind the éclair- case, everything.

"You said that you were engaged at some point?"

"Yeah, I was staying at his house and we were about to get it on, when his mom and Grandma visited. They wanted to bring us something to eat and he just wanted to get me into bed. So he told them that we were engaged. He had neither asked me, nor had he a ring. He didn't mean it seriously, so we broke it up."

He nodded. "And through this whole time, Ric was right behind you?"

"Yeah, he caught me, whenever I fell.

The days went by, and before I knew where the time had gone it was Saturday, the day of the cookout.

_Thank you all for reading.Please tell me what you think._


	35. Chapter 34

_Thank you to everyone who has reviewed. I appreciated it very much. Special thanks goes to Annie, who came up with the cookout idea._

_Standard disclaimer applies._

**Chapter 34**

I woke up with a warm presence snuggled into my back, also known as Ranger.

"Morning, Babe." He had his face hidden in my hair, but I turned around to kiss him good morning.

"Morning, Ric." He grinned at me. He always loved it when I called him by his given name, because it happened rarely.

I was reluctant to start the day, fearing what it might bring with the cookout and our families colliding.

"You know, today my Mom is gonna meet your Mom."

He didn't look so amused anymore. "I know. Be prepared that they might want to plan the wedding."

Huh? Wedding? "What wedding?" I was getting a little freaked, okay very much so, but we weren't even engaged.

"Our wedding." Now he had sent me into a downright panic attack.

"What?" I was shrieking and my eyes were probably as big as saucers.

"Shh, calm down." He was rubbing soothing circles on my back. "Nobody said that we're going to get married right away. But how do you feel about marriage?" Ric looked tense, like my answer was very important to him.

"I don't know if I ever want to get married again. The last one was a disaster and relationships aren't exactly my strong point. I don't know if I ever want kids, but I don't want them right away. Same goes for marriage. I love you, but I..."

Before I could get any further with my fretting he interrupted me. "Shh, it's okay. We don't have to get married right now. We have all the time in the world. But I would really like to see you grow big with my child inside you one day."

He spoke softly, and I thought about what he said. The thought of getting married to Morelli, having children with him, had always frightened me. I had always been afraid he would use it to cut my wings, to ground me. But with Ric, I wasn't afraid of it. In fact, the thought of having a baby together with Ric made me smile. I started wondering what I child of us might look like, would the kid have his straight hair or my rats nets, what skin tone would the kid get? Ric's mocha latte, or a blend between the both of us?

Ranger interrupted my inner musings, and I was sure he had read every thought written out on my face. "Already planning what they'll look like?"

I nodded. Ric was smiling affectionately at me.

"There's no rush for kids. As long as we're happy with what we both do, we can wait. Because once you're pregnant, we won't go on missions anymore."

"Wouldn't want it any other way. I don't want my children to grow up without parents, only knowing us through the tales the Merry Men tell them."

He kissed me again, gently and with a lot of love and affection. I was relieved that we had discussed that topic without either of us blowing up.

"So what's the plan for the day, Batman?"

"I intended to take you shopping, but I've got a much better idea now. We don't want kids yet, but there's nothing wrong with practicing." He threw his wolf grin at me and I was getting warm and wet in all the right places. "So what do you think? Wonna practice?"

_Smut ahead. To avoid it skip down to the row of hyphens._

He didn't give me a chance to answer, as his mouth descended on mine. He traced the outline of my lips with his tongue, asking for entrance. I granted him, kissing him just as eager as he was kissing me.

He pulled back a little.

"Do you trust me?"

"Yes." I didn't hesitate. I knew that this man would lie his life down for me, just like I would for him.

"Are you okay with trying something new?"

I nodded.

"Okay. I want you to lie down on your back and get your arms under your head. Don't touch me, just enjoy."

I nodded and he kissed me again, before I assumed the position he wanted me in. Before I knew what was happening he had me blindfolded with a silk scarf as well.

We were naked, so I didn't have to worry about any clothes that might come in the way.

It was arousing, but also a little frightening to lay on the bed, displayed for him to see, but not knowing what was going to happen next. Loosing my sight and the ability to touch had heightened my hearing. I strained to hear what he was going, but with Batman it was a futile attempt. If he didn't want me to hear anything, I wouldn't get to hear what he was doing.

He got off the bed and a moment later the bed dipped, indicating that he was back, but I had never heard him move.

He settled down beside me, his leg touching me, and then he leaned over, pressing a soft kiss to my lips, but before I could deepen the kiss he pulled away.

"My rules, Babe. You try to touch me, I'm gonna tie you down. Understand?"

"Yes." I was already slightly breathless, the expectation of things to come enough to arouse me.

He leaned in to kiss me again, this time he deepened the kiss, but he never let me take over, keeping the pressure to his liking. He had my head cradled in his hands, his fingers massaging my scalp. He added his tongue to the mix, dancing around my own, teasing me, before his lips left my mouth to trail kisses down to my ear and the sensitive spot behind. His hands left my head to lightly trail up and down the inside of my arms, causing goosebumps to erupt and I shivered.

"You like that?"

I was already too far gone to respond, but my purring was answer enough for him. And it was getting hard to keep my hands to myself, the urge to touch him nearly overwhelming.

He trailed kisses over my body, stopping his descent at my pulse point to suck, marking me as his. He laved and bit the spot time and time again, until I was writhing underneath him.

His hands were now beside me, holding his weight off of me, using only his mouth on me. Ric trailed kisses from my neck down to my breasts, taking one nipple into his mouth, suckling gently on it until it was hard, then switching to the other one, repeating the attentions. When he had them hard to his satisfaction and moved further down, his mouth never loosing contact with my skin. He trailed kisses over my ribs down over my belly and then to my belly button, tonguing it.

My hips were bucking off the bed, trying to get closer to him. I was craving his caresses, but had no way in increasing them. Ranger was setting the pace and he wouldn't budge.

He trailed kisses down towards my pubic bone, but when I expected him to reach my clit, I felt a vibrating sensation, combined with a buzzing sound? Was he using a vibrator? Before I could ponder that thought any further I felt the vibration move towards my wet and throbbing entrance, running in circles around it as his lips closed over my clit. He was licking and sucking it, alternating with gentle bites and he was driving me crazy with desire.

I was moaning and trashing on the bed, barely able to contain my screams of pleasure. I could feel the heat pooling in my belly, indication the coming orgasm. I was getting close to release, the vibrations adding incredible sensations, but when I thought I would come he backed of, leaving me hanging on the edge of release.

I couldn't help the disappointed whimper that escapes me.

Ric chuckled. "Patience, Babe. You know that it's gonna be that much better if you're a little patient." He leaned up to press a quick kiss to my lips, but then resumed his ministrations on my clit again.

He brought be back up nearly to orgasm, but stopped again before I could find release. He had tensed again, and I was getting frustrated. I deserved my orgasm. I was so wet I could feel my juices flow down towards my butt and I was trembling.

He repeated the progress several times. Bringing me close to the edge, only to stop again to let me come down a little to start again.

Ric started again, trailing the vibrator from my opening down to my anus, moving it around a little. I had never been into butt stuff, but I really liked the sensations he was creating.

"That feels so gooooood." I was moaning again.

"Relax, Babe." And he added a little more pressure to the vibe, entering me barely with it. My hips bucked off the bed and as he sucked at my clit again, entering me with a finger I climaxed. So hard that I could see the lights explode behind my eyelids. My whole body was spasming and I couldn't control my movements, I was trashing around and could barely breath. And then I fainted.

After long minutes I finally came down a little, my ragged breathing evening out a little. When my eyes finally made an attempt to flutter open, Ric had the blindfold removed an was cradling me in his arms.

When he noticed that I was looking at him, he kissed me.

"Wow, that was unbelievable."

"Yeah, Babe. There's nothing as sexy as watching you come, trashing and writhing all over the place."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

He could feel how much he liked it pressed into my stomach. And he knew what I was thinking. "But we need to get a move on. It's already 1000 hours and the people get here at around 1600 hours."

"And just how long have we been practicing?"

"A little over an hour and a half."

"Okay, how long have I been out?"

"Ten minutes."

"Oh."

He kissed me again. "Yeah. I think it was pretty intense for you."

"But you got nothing out of it." I didn't like the fact that he was pleasuring me so unbelievably, but didn't get an orgasm himself.

"Don't worry, there's enough time for that tonight. But for now we should get cleaned up. There's a lot that needs to be prepared before all the people arrive."

We made our way through the bathroom, actually to take a shower without indulging in some quality time and had an early lunch, courtesy of Ella.

After lunch we got dressed and for the first time since I got home from training I was just wearing hipsters and one of the tank tops to show off my tattoos. I didn't do it intentionally. It only registered when Ranger pointed it out to me. And I had still stitches, but at least I didn't have to bandage it anymore. I was pretty sure about how my family would react, but I was taking this chance. Even Ranger was wearing blue jeans, although combined with a black tee.

I had finally overcome my problems to adapt, so I was comfortable with my weapons again, not fearing I might shoot anyone. I only left one set of throwing knives in the safe, the rest went with me.

"Babe, you're carrying?" His question was accompanied by a raised eyebrow.

"RangeMan policy," I responded with a cheeky grin.

He leaned down to kiss me. "Babe." He shook his head before he started again. "You know, one year ago, I could only hope that one day I might be fortunate enough to have you in my life permanently. But I could have never imagined that you would go through training and go on missions with me, let alone safe our asses. I just love you so much."

"I love you, too. More than you'll ever know." And I leaned up to kiss him.

After that we finally went up to the roof, and I was impressed. There were large tables and chairs and Ella was preparing a large buffet table. The guys were milling around, decorating like Ella told them, setting the tables, placing large heaters around the place. Apparently they expected the party to go long into the night. And the barbecue they had purchased was big enough to hold enough meat for a whole army. Considering who would come it was appropriate.

I walked over to Ella. "Hi Ella. Can I help you with anything?"

She looked up and took one look at me, before she smiled at me. "Don't worry, Dear. You just go sit and enjoy. You have to be exhausted."

Damn. "Ella, how do you know this. Everyone who looks at me can tell if we indulged in some quality time."

"You just have to look at yourself. You're relaxed and you're glowing. You just ooze the happiness." She smiled encouraging at me and I knew she was right. Ella steered me towards one of the recliners and told me to relax.

I did as I was told and promptly fell asleep, only waking up when I heard some girl squealing, probably Mary Lou.

Someone had provided me with my Seals cap, probably Ranger, so I wasn't that burnt yet. She was looking around, looking for me and she spotted me when I sat up. The fact that I had been able to sleep with all the activity going on around me indicated that I was back to my normal self, well as normal as I was going to get.

Mare came running, dragging me out of the recliner so she could hug me.

"You're back, and you nearly shot Joe and you've got a tattoo." She was squealing, but than it registered what she had said. "You've got a tattoo?" She looked at me incredulously.

"Actually, I've got two."

"What? Where? Why?" She was bouncing up and down with excitement. For us Burg girls it was pretty unusual to have a tattoo, let alone two of them.

"Dragon and tassei, the dragon I got in my third month of training, tassei after six. For the stories ask Tank, he has way more fun telling them than I have."

"Okay, I see the dragon, but where's the other one?" I turned around so she could see it, and she traced it with her finger.

Before we could talk any further the rest of the troops arrived. Val's girls took of to play with Mare's boys, only MA came towards me, Ranger right behind her. She came up and hugged me as hard as she could.

"I'm so glad you're back."

"I'm glad to be back, MA. Did you have lessons while we were gone?"

"No, Mom didn't want me to train with one of the Merry Men. She only allows me to come here when you're around." Damn. I had thought we had cleared that, but apparently I would have to talk to Val again. Ranger had heard it as well and he wasn't happy, but he knew I wanted him to keep it quiet for the moment.

After I welcomed my family we settled down to eat. Luis was manning the barbecue, providing us with loads of steaks and burgers, everything you could want. Courtesy of Ella we even had the healthy stuff I had come to love. Ranger just grinned at me when he saw my plate.

"You know Babe, I would have never thought that you would pick up my eating habits." He loved teasing me about it, but I just gave him a kiss and got to eat. I was starving.

Conversation was light, but loud. The Merry Men and their girlfriends and families were sitting at another table. On our table were our families and the core team.

MA was sitting between Bobby and Lil, chatting happily with them, getting to know Lil and updating Bobby on what had been going on while we were in the wind.

I was just sitting down again with dessert, when Val started in on me. She was sitting on the other side of the table, five people down, so she had to talk pretty loud. Loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Stephanie, why do you have a tattoo? It's not like it would be proper for a women to have something like this. It's for sailors and soldiers." She spat it out like an insult. I counted myself to this group, and what was even more important, all my friends, the ones who had saved my ass again and again were a member of this group.

Ranger sensed that my anger was flaring, so he put his hand on my thigh, trying to calm me down.

"You won't even be able to wear a backless wedding gown. And all that just for a little fun, for trying to play with the big ones? You can't even defend yourself. Hell, you got shot again."

Everyone had heard it, and all the Merry Men sucked in a collective breath, waiting how I would handle her.

"I'm proud of myself, of what I have become. These tattoos remind of the hard way I had to go before I could come home, stronger than I have ever been. And when I marry, I'll wear a backless gown, to show off the tattoo. This tattoo is me, it symbolizes me. Do you even have an idea what it means?"

She shook her head.

"It's Japanese and it means tassei, it means that I'm courageous, that I have great instincts, but also that I can be very aggressive. And that's what about to happen here Val. Did you not hear about what happened at the cop shop when we were back the first time?"

"Yeah, heard that you took Morelli down. He was probably unaware, so it was no big deal. Even I could take him down."

"Valerie, I've had enough. We're going to settle this down now, once and for all."

I stood up. "Ranger, I'm going down to change. Could you please bring Valerie down to the combat room in ten minutes? And please tell Hector to bring a set for her to change into, wouldn't want to ruin her clothes." He nodded, I gave him a last kiss and left.

I went down to our apartment and changed into combat gear, cargoes, sports bra under a regular tank top, along with my full armory and a leather jacket, and last but not least the boots, my hair in a tight braid, making it harder to pull..

I went down to the combat room, where everyone was waiting for me. Val had already changed. I only had ten minutes requested to give me some time to calm down a little.

Val was smirking at me, sure she would win. I walked over to her and dragged her with me to the treadmills. "Get on it."

"Why?" She looked like she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"I said get on it." I was already running, doing my regular warm up.

"But why? We'll only do self defense. That's no big deal, it won't even take long." She was right, but she had no idea how far away her thoughts from reality were.

"I know that it's not gonna take long, but that's not a reason to chance pulling a muscle. Now get on the stupid treadmill and run." She gasped, but in the end got her ass in gear.

I did my three miles, talking with Lil who was standing beside me. Everyone beside Angie, Val and Albert was grinning at me.

Valerie was sweating like she had won a marathon, do I took pity ob her. "Okay, that's enough. Now show me the stretches they thought you."

She looked like a deer in headlights. "Stretches? They never said anything about it."

She was getting annoying. Where the hell did she go for her classes? "Okay, just do what I do."

We went through a series of stretches together. When I looked up I saw that Ranger had changed into combat gear as well, so I indicated for him to get onto the treadmill as well. He knew what I had in mind.

"Let's get you suited up." I provided her with a helmet and some padding, before I went over to Lil and started undressing to a point comfortable for sparring. I had made it a point to carry all the stuff for my run.

I took of my jacket and Val gasped. "What the hell is this?" She pointed towards the throwing knives. Good thing the stars were in the safe.

"These are throwing knives. There have been situations when they came in handy." I took them off as well, giving them to Lil. Next to go were the two guns I was carrying.

"How much weapons do you carry? You can't defend yourself, you have to shoot the people." I had no idea how she could be so stupid.

"Trust me Valerie, you're better off not knowing. Are you ready?" I glanced over at the treadmills. Ranger was watching us with interest, a small smile playing around his lips.

"Yeah."

We went over to the middle of the room where the mats were. I wanted her to get the point, but I didn't want to hurt her.

"How do you want to play this Valerie?"

_Please let me know what you think._


	36. Chapter 35

_Standard disclaimer applies._

_A huge thank you to everyone who reviewed!_

**Chapter 35**

"What do you mean?"

"Do you want to attack me, or do you want me to attack you? It's up to you."

She looked like she couldn't believe her ears again. How this woman could be my sister was beyond me. We were so different in so may ways.

"Why don't we start with something easy. You'll attack me." She looked like she thought I wouldn't have a chance in hell.

"You sure about this?"

"Yeah. And how come you aren't wearing all this protective stuff?"

Lil spoke up before I could try to strangle her. "She doesn't need it. Now get the party started or I'll go and get me some popcorn."

I had to grin. He always managed to make me laugh.

I started with an easy hold. It was really for starters and I wasn't even holding her tight, but she had no idea how to get out of it. MA however knew how to get out, so she came over and talked her mom through it, step for step, until she was free.

The guys were cheering MA on, and I had to struggle not to laugh. Even Ranger was smiling, and Ma was bouncing around.

"Val, what about you try to hold me down?"

She nodded and advanced me, using all her strength to imprison me, but there wasn't much strength behind it and she had no idea how to make a hold harder to break.

"MA, could you please come over and adjust it?"

She nodded, grinning, eager to show her mom that she was better. Even though Val adjusted the hold she had on me, I was able to get out and get her down on the mat without problems.

That went on for several rounds. Val would either hold me down or I would hold her and MA always had to help her. Finally I took pity on Val. But I hadn't even really worked her yet and she was panting. She would be sore nonetheless, but I didn't care.

Ranger was still jogging, waiting for me to get done with Val. "Ranger, I need some serious competition here to blow off some steam." Val had pissed me off. She constantly tried to bring MA down, and believed that she was the queen.

Lester yelled to Mary Lou, "Now you know why they called her Dragon. That's what she looked like that evening." I had to laugh. I had seen the tape they made that evening, and I knew what he meant. Val had pissed me off to no end and I was sure my nostrils were flaring.

Ranger made his way over from the treadmills to Tank to lose some clothing and his weapons, I went to Lil.

"Hey Bobby, where's the tape? And could you take out the stitches?" I took off the tank top and my boots and socks, as well as all my weapons. I was standing there in cargoes and sports bra, both my tattoos clearly visible, as well as my muscle definition. My Dad was grinning at the fire power I was carrying around, Val just visibly paled and the rest was laughing. I was ready to blow off some steam.

Ranger stood in front of me, only wearing his cargoes, barefoot like me. Bobby brought over his kit to take the stitches out.

My mom didn't like it. "But you can't just take them out. What when something happens?"

"Mom, calm down. We know what we're doing. And trust me, ripping it open without the stitches in it is a lot less painful." The core team grinned at me. They knew that I didn't want to go to the hospital for everything, but had also experienced ripping stitched up wounds themselves. They knew what I was talking about

While Bobby was working on me, Ranger already taped his hands and I followed suit. Someone had brought Val a glass of water and she was sitting down, obviously exhausted.

Ranger gave me a kiss and went through his stretching, waiting for me to get ready. When I had finished my taping I went over to the mats, facing Ranger.

I was smiling. I had missed our sparring sessions while we had been overseas and Lil hadn't seen me in action yet, sparring-wise. The guys had told him some stuff, but he hadn't seen it so far.

After some circling we started sparring in earnest, throwing punches, delivering kicks. We were in tune, moving back and forth, but the other always moved out of the way, without getting really hit. It was a great way to blow off steam. And I was smiling.

I was concentrating only on Ranger, his moves, his actions. I had no idea what was going on around us, and I didn't care. All that mattered was the two of us. For an outsider it must have looked like a well choreographed dance, but we were fighting. I was giving more power behind my blows, throwing them faster.

I knew that it was probably unfair towards Ranger, but I knew that he could take it, that it would take a lot to get him to surrender. And knocking him out was never a possibility.

We continued, getting closer, making more contact, but neither of us would budge. We would move a step back, only to come into the fight again. And I never came even close enough to grab hold of him to deliver a throw that would make me the winner of the match.

So we went on, and I was starting to sweat, my breath coming faster, but Ranger got warmed up as well.

It would have gone on for a long while, hadn't Ranger suddenly grabbed a hold of me. He didn't try to throw me of balance or something. Both his arms shot forwards and he grabbed me around the waist, lifting me up a little and hauling me against his chest. He caught me completely off-guard, but I could restrain myself from delivering the punch I had just started.

Ranger drew me tight and kissed me and I was laughing, much to the amusement of the Merry Men.

"Boss, you're supposed to get her to surrender, not kiss her brains out." Lester had to offer his opinion.

"Ranger, did nobody ever teach you, not to get in close contact with the enemy?" Tank our smart ass was laughing at us, but I didn't care. They were all happy for us, so the occasional teasing wasn't a problem.

Lil however addressed the slight differences between Valerie and me and Ranger turned me around in his arms, my back to his front and I was leaning against him, watching Lil read Val the riot act. "Mrs Kloughn, I know that you're convinced that you're the best at whatever you do, but did you watch the both of them? Did you see how finely tuned they were, how precise their motions were? Did you see at which speed they moved, how fast they bounced back and forth, countering and attacking?" The room had gone silent. The Merry Men mostly knew what he was talking about, for the rest of the people present, it was mostly knew.

Lil looked sharply at her and Val shrunk in her chair. "What you learned at your self defense classes is simply this. Self defense for normal people who are afraid someone might grab them on the way home from the supermarket or whatever. But what Moxie learned is on a incredible high level, something that you won't ever be able to understand. You have no idea what it means, to go out there to fight on a mission. You never know what might await you."

He was walking towards where she was sitting with Albert standing behind her. "When you're shipped out, all they tell you is where you go and what they expect you to do, but you never know what might happen, what you might witness, what you might have to endure. You have no idea what trouble you can run into. When we were flown out, none of us could have guessed that the bite of an insect can knock you out, there are so many variables you have to be able to react to. No trip is like any you have made before."

He was silent for a moment, giving Val a chance to let it all sink in, but he wasn't finished with her. What amazed me most was the tone of his voice. It was strong, but even, polite. He wasn't harsh or anything, just told her the facts.

"What I don't understand is, why do you try to stomp on your sister's self-esteem? Why do you try to get her down? Has she ever done anything that might cause such an unfair behavior? Why do you act that way? Are you jealous? Or do you envy her? What is it? Is it because she can live the life she wants, without the pressure everyone is putting on you?"

At this point my Mom grabbed the girls and shoved them out of the room, throwing a glance at Lil. She didn't look disapproving, and that wondered me. Something to think about later.

"Mrs Kloughn, what is it? The freedom you never had, or the money? The respect everyone pays her? That she does something for the society, or do you just don't like that you always had your mother's approval and your little sister was at fault, always being told to be more like you, always being scolded to be more like a lady. But she didn't do it, and now she's happy with her life. What about you? Are you happy? Or do you sometimes wish you had made different decisions?"

At this point Val interrupted him. When I looked up I realized that only the core team, my dad, Val and Albert were in the room. Everyone else had left. At which point? I had no idea, but I was sure someone would be able to tell me.

"Who do you think you are to insult me like this?" I was actually surprise Lil had gotten this far. I had expected her to blow up a lot earlier. She had never had much control over herself when she was angry.

"And what do you do, telling me all this? How do you know all the details?" Her voice had risen. She wasn't yelling yet, but she was getting close.

"Mrs Kloughn, do you know who I am?" Lil asked kindly.

"NO! How should I know you? You're one of Manoso's goons." That had me seeing red. If Ranger hadn't been holding me I would have probably launched myself at her and beaten her to a bloody pulp.

"Val!" It took a moment, but she focused on me. "Don't you dare insulting my friends like this! They have saved my ass more often than you can even imagine. Manoso's goons, as you so politely put it, are the reason you still have a sister." I was snarling at her, my voice icy.

"That's what I'm saying, you can't take care of yourself!"

"Valerie don't you get it? These are my friends, and the guy you so polite insulted is my partner, we watch each others back! And you have no idea what it meant to go through training, what it means to get up at a quarter to five and get into bed dead tired on your feet at a little after 9. Being on your feet the whole day? Running, physical exercise to build muscle mass and more importantly keep it. Gun range for several hours, martial arts. Val I went through hell to get to the point I'm now. You have no idea what you're talking about. Have a full day and they teach you another language and you're expected to expand your vocabulary as fast as possible, so you have to learn after the physical part of the day is over."

She was sitting there, staring at all of us wide eyed, barely able to comprehend what we were telling her.

Bobby cut in. He had never liked her and was happy to give her a piece of his mind. "How many of your friends would go to the wall for you? Lay their lives down for you? Would risk their lives to get you out of trouble? How many of your friends would support you in your decision to get better at what you do, even if you had to move outside your box, out of the secure zone your home provides for you? Would you even consider to do Moxie's job? Or would you be too afraid. Afraid that you could rip your jeans, or get dirty? Have you ever really thought about what the work we do means for you, for your and your family's security?"

Bobby gave her a moment to think before he went on as he saw her shaking her head, indicating she had never thought about the affect we had on her life. "We go out there on a daily basis, to collect rapist, murderers and abusers. Men or women who have abused children, people who are a danger to their environment. We raid the streets off the criminals so that you can feel safe when you go out, so that you don't have to worry when you send your children off to school. Do you have any idea what this means for us? What we have to expect? We go out there, always with the thought in mind that that skip could be the last one we might ever be able to pick up, because we don't know how they will react. We never know if they're totally doped up or relaxed and come with us without trouble. We don't walk up to the door and knock. We don't say 'Hi, I'm sorry to tell you, but you forget to appear for your court date. May I give you a ride?'. They don't come willingly with you, and they sure as hell never open you their door."

He waited a moment. "All _you_ have to fear is that you might be the victim of a car accident, but how likely is this to happen?"

Bobby stared at her, willing her to answer his questions. "I... I don't know. What is so special about it? It's a job like every other." She was stammering, her voice unsure and insecure. What they told her was way out of her league, but she had asked for it, and now she would have to endure it. Like it or not.

Tank went on. "But do you know, how many lives she saved? She saved Lula's life and gave her the chance to have a better life, to make something out of herself. She went to safe Mooner and Dougie. Would you have ever considered that? She was willing to risk her life to safe Julie and she didn't even know the girl. She helped Ric, although they weren't in a romantic relationship at that time. Would you even consider doing this? Jumping to help a kid you don't know, maybe die in the process?"

We were silent for a few moments, giving Val the chance to work through the turmoil in her head, but I was sure she wouldn't come to a conclusion anytime soon.

That was the first time I spoke up again. "Valerie, why don't you come over Monday morning and you'll spent the day with me and Lil?" I checked with Lil that he was okay with this. Our Esp had gotten quite good since we met, but Val never even noticed the exchange.

"Why should I do this? And what about the girls?"

"You should do this to get a glimpse at the life I live, to get an idea what you're talking about. As for the girls, we can start later than usual. When do they leave the house normally?"

"Around 7.30. Why are you asking?"

"Oh, that's perfect. I can actually sleep in a little. Just come over after you sent them off."

"Sleep in? What are you talking about?" She had a slightly dazed look on her face. She looked pathetic.

"You know, my day normally starts no later than 5.30. Any questions?"

"What about Lisa?" She was desperately looking for a way out of it. But I wouldn't give her one.

"I'm sure Mom won't mind to watch her for a few days."

"A few days?"

"Yes. I'm sure you'll be a little sore, but nothing too bad."

"Why would I be sore?" She looked a little panicked.

"Val, are you so dumb? You'll spend the entire day with me. And that means you'll participate in my normal physical exercise. And don't try to find excuses, you won't get out of it."

That decided it for her. She got up and stormed toward the door. I could barely call "I'll meet you Monday morning at 8 sharp," after her, before she left the room, Albert right behind her.

I looked at my team. "Thanks guys. I would have tried to strangle her without you."

Tank came over to us and pulled me into a hug. "No need to thank us Moxie. We stand up for you, you stand up for us. We're a team and support each other."

I went into a row of hugs, everyone saying something similar to what Tank had said. At last I stood in front of my dad.

"Thanks for pointing Val to her place." He didn't have to say more, they all knew that he was grateful for what they had done.

We stood in silence for a few moments, before I turned around in Ranger's arms. "I'm going up to the apartment to take my shower. I suggest you take your shower somewhere else." I was grinning up at him through my eyelashes.

"_Why_ would I do that, Babe?" He threw his wolf grin at me.

"It's time to rejoin the party, and you know just as well as I do that we won't do that if we take the shower together. And I'm hungry."

This got me some chuckles, but Ranger surrendered. He took his shower in Tank's apartment.

Half an hour later Ranger came to the apartment to pick me up. We rejoined the party and had a great evening. The Kloughns and Mare's family left when it was time for the kids to go to bed. Apparently Val hadn't gone home like I had assumed, but I didn't care. But I for sure knew that I would never invite her on a occasion like this again.

The rest of our families and the majority of the Merry Men soon followed, until it was only the six of us and Lula. I hadn't noticed her much with everything going on, but now she was sitting in Tank's lap, snuggled up to him. I was sitting on Ranger's lap, engulfed in his strong arms and utterly comfortable.

We had a great night. Lula left around 10pm, she had to get an early start on Sunday, so it was only the six of us. It was great. We were sitting around and talking, mostly about missions they had been on, experiences they had made together, drinking beer and nibbling on snacks Ella had provided. It felt great to be a member of this group, this inner circle that shared so much trust and friendship.

I didn't know when we finally fell into bed, but I was exhausted. I took quickly care of business and then was out like a light.

Sunday was calm. We slept until noon and then went down into the office for two hours to catch up on paperwork. We skipped dinner at my parents in favor of a movie night.

I was grateful for this slow day, because Monday promised to be hell.

_Please let me know what you think. What would you like to see for Val's day at RangeMan?_


	37. Chapter 36

_Standard disclaimers apply._

_Thank you to everyone who reviewed. An extra big thank you to Mud for betaing this for me and Annie for helping me plot the chapter._

**Chapter 36**

Monday morning we actually slept in, meaning the alarm clock went off at 7am. It felt like heaven to me. We took our shower together without too much action and then went down to the office. It had been decided to have breakfast after the workout, together with the guys and Val in the break room, and then going to the gun range.

Val had no idea what she was in for.

We went down into the office around 7.30, time enough to look over the days activities and for a short meeting.

I went down to pick her up in the foyer, I still wasn't sure she would actually come. When she walked finally through the door a few minutes late, I had to grin. My dad was escorting her, making sure she reached her destination.

Dad came over and hugged me. That left Val standing around on her own, looking like a child that got lost. She was wringing her hands, looking for something to hold onto.

"Morning, Baby Girl. Wanted to make sure your sister reached her destination." He was grinning at me, the desire to witness what was going to happen evident in his eyes.

"Thanks Daddy, we're going to make a video tape. She doesn't know it." I whispered conspiratorially.

That caused him to chuckle. He drew back and that was when I noticed for the first time what Val was wearing. She was in proper Burg- Mom attire. A lavender skirt that went down to her knees with pretty flowers on it and a blouse in the same color, complete with heels. She had no idea what she was in for, apparently she still thought we would be polite and nice to our skips. Something we would have to change later.

"Good morning, Val." I looked at her and saw her eyes widen in surprise when I spoke to her, she wasn't expecting the courtesy from me. At least the hand wringing had stopped now.

She just nodded to acknowledge my greeting.

"Val, what the hell were you thinking when you got dressed this morning?"

"I got ready for the day like everyday," she said in her well-duh voice, like she was questioning my sanity. I was looking like everyone else at RangeMan in my uniform, but she would see that she would stand out like a sore thumb in a sea of black.

"Okay, we'll find you something to wear. Did you at least bring gym clothes?" I hadn't seen a duffel, but a girl could hope.

"Why should I?"

I blew out a breath, trying to hold onto my control. "Did you listen to what we told you? You're going to spend the day with me, meaning a work out as well."

I indicated for her to follow me and we went up to the third floor, meeting the team in the gym. When we walked in Ranger raised an eyebrow in question. I could understand it. All the guys were fighting to keep their faces straight. I could understand their urge to laugh, but somehow she reminded me a lot of me before I became a professional. She was totally oblivious to their amusement, or as Ranger would sort of say, she was so not aware of her surroundings.

"Good morning, Mrs. Kloughn, how nice of you to join us for our work out today." I had to grin at Ranger's greeting. She nodded and looked like she was slightly uncomfortable around the guys.

"Steph, all the stuff you requested is in the locker room, we'll met you back here in ten minutes." I nodded and dragged Val behind me.

Only the guys normally used the locker room. I had no problems using the same locker room, but Ranger didn't like it, so I usually went up to the apartment to take my shower. Today, though, it was the girls' locker room, as I didn't want Val in the apartment.

For me, I had brought down my running shorts and tennis shoes. I was already wearing my sports bra. For Val, I had requested yoga pants and a tee, I knew that she would be more comfortable in them. The tennis shoes and socks were waiting for her as well.

I went to Ranger's locker and deposited my weapons and left Val to get changed. When I came back she was still standing there, never even moving a muscle.

"Val, you aren't getting out of it, so you might as well go along with it. The more you try to slow it down, the longer it will take you. We have a program for today, as long as we haven't done it all you aren't going home, so get dressed."

I changed into my workout clothes, and waited for Val to get ready. When she finally deemed herself ready, or at least as ready as she was going to get, we left the locker room to find the Merry Men waiting for us. In running shorts. Bare chested. Yum. Val however was a little overwhelmed by the sight that greeted her.

"Val, just follow my lead, I really don't want to explain everything. Just do what I do." Thankfully we had every machine at least twice, so it wasn't a problem.

I got on the treadmill to do my morning run and instructed her on how to use it. I switched hers to a slower pace than mine, knowing that she wouldn't be able to keep up anyway. I ran my ten miles, watching Ranger in the mirror.

I felt refreshed after my run, buzzing with energy, glowing with adrenaline. Okay, part of that glow could have been afterglow of the night before, but who cared? Val on the opposite hand was sweating, her face was flushed a dark red and her breath came in short little puffs. And she had only made two miles.

She got off her treadmill and followed me as I walked over to the equipment, selecting one to strengthen my arm muscles. After telling Val that she needed to use smaller weights, we would continue.

That went on for the entire workout. I would select a machine to use, Val would follow and she would try to work with the same weights as I did. I had to tell her each time to take it easy, but I could see her getting tired. She barely managed the ten reps on each machine.

When I was ready to spar I took pity on her. I gave her a bottle of water and told her to get back onto the treadmill, continuing in a slow walk to keep her blood pressure up. I knew that she wanted to sit down, but since I didn't want to deal with a passed out Val, and that was what was most likely to happen I wouldn't let her.

She tried to talk me out of it, telling me that she was tired, but Bobby told her to get her lazy ass in gear and stop whining. After one look at his face she complied.

I started sparring with Lil. We hadn't had the possibility for that yet, so I was anxious for the match. I knew that if I took him by surprise I would have no problems taking him down, but I wasn't sure what to do when he knew what was coming. He didn't do that much better. He knew what my favorite move was, so he was wearing a cup. Nonetheless I went for his balls. He forgot that he was wearing a cup and to protect his balls he left himself completely open, left with no defenses. I took my chances and with a sharp jab to the stomach I had him doubled over, the move to bring him onto the mat only formality.

Val was watching us with big eyes, especially as Ranger and Tank started sparring but then I called her over to show her some moves. Bobby and Lester were trying to get each other to surrender, so Lil had to help me. I showed her some moves, had her practice a little, but she just didn't have the strength to hold one of us long enough.

After I rolled her over for the third time, you could see the understanding dawn in her eyes. It was like someone had switched a light on. It had been getting harder for her to get up again each time she went down. Only her pride kept her going, she didn't want to appear weak.

When she finally couldn't get up again she had a lot of bruising and from the movements she made it was a sure bet that she was sore. Tank and Ranger had ended their sparring session, so we moved to get a shower.

The guys went to the respective apartments and I dragged Val back to the locker room, after helping her up. She was walking on wobbly legs, slightly unsteady.

In the locker room I found the bag Ella had brought down to us. Towels, shampoo and some soap for Val, as well as Bulgari and my usual stuff for me. I had to grin. Ella always took care of our needs and that she thought about bringing me Ranger's shower gel touched me. We took our shower, Val constantly trying to cover up.

"Val, get over it. There's nobody here besides us. I banned the guys for the day so that we could shower here."

"But what if somebody sees us?" Huh?

"Val, I gave them order not to come into this room today, so they won't come!"

"What do you mean, you gave them order?"

"Val, I'm a member of the management. When I say they have to stay out of here they stay out of here, because none of them are eager to face the consequences. Just hurry."

I got out to get dressed and tame my hair, leaving Val to finish. By the time she emerged I was dressed and my hair was tamed. I just was strapping on my weapons. She looked taken aback at the amount of hardware, but didn't say anything.

"So what's next on the agenda?"

"Gun range."

"What?" She squeaked, "You can't expect me to shoot someone?"

"Oh, don't worry. We'll only shoot innocent little paper men. When we go on the streets later you won't carry. Now get ready. We're already late."

She hurried to get ready, but when there wasn't any make up she started again.

"Stephanie, I need make-up to get ready. I can't show my face without make up around the Burg. And I need hair spray. What the hell am I supposed with my hair?"

"You don't need make up. This shower wouldn't be the last for today. As for your hair, just braid it. It's much easier that way. Oh, and we expect you to wear a RangeMan uniform."

"Why's that?"

"Just go along with it before one of the guys decides you need a little encouragement."

She finally got dressed and we made our way up to the break room to have breakfast. I had already had some water so I was starving. We were chatting happily away, whereas Val was extremely silent. She had trouble holding her cup, nearly spilling the coffee. She had to be sore as hell, and it wasn't even 9.30 yet. After a delicious breakfast, prepared by Ella, we made our way down to the gun range. Val had needed a little more time then the guys. So they headed on down first.

When we finally got there I handed her the usual protection gear before we even entered the range.

"I want you to wear this at all times. Just follow my lead and stay behind me."

She nodded and we entered, only to find the guys already wrapping up with their practice. They turned around one after the other and nodded. When it grew silent I took off my ear protectors talk to them.

"Who's gonna teach her how to shoot?" I looked around and they were grinning at me. I was sure that they could see how tense my shoulders were, how hard I had locked my jaw.

Lester grinned. "Oh, I think I'm gonna do it. May we call you Val by the way? I think it might make it easier for us." Val nodded and went over to him.

I went over to Ranger and produced a new set of training knives out of my many pockets. "I want to practice throwing with you. It might just come in handy." He nodded and kissed me.

I went over to one of the lanes and pulled a target in, setting it up to my liking. I explained to him what I wanted him to do, and more importantly how to do it. Before he threw the first knife I had him watching me to see how I moved. Then I indicated for him to take over. We were wearing protection again as Val and Lester were trying to shoot.

He didn't do half bad, but as he was too stiff in the wrist, the motion wasn't fluid enough. I showed him again and then helped him by guiding his motions which made it a lot better. Tank and Bobby was watching us. I knew that I would have to teach them as well sometime. Anything for them, as long as I wasn't the only one on our next mission who was comfortable with throwing darts and stuff.

When we were finished Val and Les were watching us as well, but we didn't care. We all went up to the control room to get started with the routine stuff. Hal had already been over to the bonds office to collect the new files, so we could get the research started.

Lil had some other stuff he needed to do, so I took Val to my cubby to get my searches done. We settled in and I did my job, ignoring Val. I had the urge to throw her out, her foot tapping on the floor, her rustling making me antsy. In short, she was getting on my nerves.

When I had the information I needed we went to collect Lil. I found him with Ranger, discussing living arrangements. Both of them looked up as I went to Ranger to kiss him and then took Val to get outfitted. Meaning Kevlar. She got one of Hector's as he was the closest to her size.

"Why do I need to wear a vest?" She looked pointed at me, trying to evoke the effect my mother usually gets when she looks at me that way, but I just couldn't take Val seriously.

"Val, the guy we're going to pick up is dangerous. It's a safety precaution, because I don't want to adopt your girls. Lil and I are wearing them as well." Difference was, hers was a simple one, just a vest, Lil's and mine had all the bells and whistles.

She whined some more, but we finally got her down into the car. Afterwards we settled in for the ride and the obligatory surveillance beforehand. I had packed drinks and snacks, as we didn't know how long it would take us.

On the way over Lil asked me what we were dealing with. "So who's going back to lock up today?"

"Duncan Marshall, picked up for reckless endangerment."

"What did he do?"

"Was driving drunk with his kids in the car."

"Damn. Do I need to be gentle with him?" I could understand where he was coming from. RangeMan was known to be tough as nails, but not one of them liked the guys who beat their wives and children or even risked hurting them.

"Try to, okay?"

I directed him to the skip's house and we settled in to wait.

"What about his wife and their kids?" He was concerned for them, just like I was.

"She moved in with her mom, so he should be alone and drunk. But he resisted arrest and was armed, so we need to be careful."

I barely finished when another car pulled up and out climbed none other than Michael Cobb, arrested for raping and abusing his wife and children.

"Damn, we need reinforcements, he's a skip as well. Rapist and abuser."

"Call the other two teams in. We can't take them out on our own."

That was what I had thought too, so before he was even finished I was on my phone, calling Ranger and requesting backup. Ten minutes later two black Broncos pulled up behind us, so we all got out to plan the approach.

Val was sweating and she was pale, her breathing shallow. She had no idea how to handle the situation. Ranger saw it and addressed her.

"Val, there's nothing to worry about. Just stay behind Steph and keep your eyes open for trouble," he threw a pointed look in my direction, "Steph, Lil is taking lead, you're back up. Understood?" He looked around, waiting for all of us to nod, "Let's get this party started."

We silently moved around the house, getting into position. Lil, Val and I took the back door. Due to our wearing mission vests we had communication. When everyone was in position we stormed the house, blowing the back door off its hinges.

We found the two of them in the living room watching TV and drinking beer, both already pretty drunk. The pick-up wasn't pretty. We had to get rough which we usually tried to avoid, but these two asked for it. Both were armed and screaming that they would shoot anyone who dared to come near them. Ranger didn't care for the stupid threats and fired a warning shot. We all had our guns at the ready, so I was a little surprised that they even tried to put up a fight. I mean, think about it, five really scary looking guys, as well as my sister and me.

When we finally had them in cuffs on the ground, Val was shaking really badly. My guess was too much adrenaline, which didn't surprise me. I signaled Ranger and guided her out to the cars, instructing her to sit down on the curb with her head between her knees. It worked for me every time.

When the rest of the team came out she was doing better, but wasn't really fit again. We decided that Lil and I would take her back to RangeMan, while the two other teams went to the cop shop to deliver our skips.

Originally I had intended to take her down to the station as well, but she wasn't in the condition for it. Back at RangeMan I told her to take a shower again and then dragged her over to the mats to give her a massage. Her muscles had to be sore as hell, but amazingly enough she hadn't complained once.

She looked a little surprised at the thought of a massage, but I convinced her it was for the best. I took her back to the break room where the guys were waiting with a late lunch. It was nearly 2 pm, but we hadn't had the time to eat yet. Looked like they had ordered in Shorty's pizza, with salads for Ranger and me.

Lester looked at Val. "So tell us, what did you learn so far today?"

_Let me know what you think, please._


	38. Chapter 37

_Standard disclaimer applies._

_Thank you to everyone who reviewed, I appreciate it. Thank you, Mud, for being my Beta, and Annie, for being my inspiration._

**Chapter 37**

Val looked up, surprised someone was even speaking to her. "Uh... um, I don't know." She looked around with big eyes, trying to gauge the mood of the group.

"Val, just talk. Nobody's going to rip your head off." I was studying my nails, hoping she would get the idea.

Apparently not. "What do you expect me to say? That you were right all along? That your day is hard, that training for Steph was hard? Well, you can wait for eternity on that. Sure, it's hard, but who forced her to do it. Who told her she had to become a bounty hunter, who told her she had to go and get training?" She paused to draw in a much-needed breath.

"I sure as hell didn't ask her to do it, and Mom didn't as well. She chose this life style, so she'll have to live with it." She was looking at Ranger now. Stupid move.

"Valerie, what makes you think that your sister would be happy with the life you have? What made you think that? All the neighbors, who are constantly talking about her? The cops, who are betting on what's going to happen next to Moxie? Your own upbringing? The way your mother told you that she had to be more like you?" Ranger paused for a moment to let his words sink in. "Or is it, because you wish you'd some of the freedom she has, the freedom to go out and do something, instead of staying at home, caring for the kids, cleaning and cooking? Because she actually goes out with friends, has fun? Don't you think you're jealous? When your sister decides she needs a night out, she calls some friends and they meet. When you want to go out, you have to call a baby sitter or your mother, making sure that your kids are taken care of. Then you call your friends, who also have kids. They need to call their baby sitters as well, and it takes hours until you finally get out of the house. If you get out of the house."

Val looked weary, rubbing her eyes and blowing her nose a few times. We all knew that Ranger had her close to her breaking point, it wouldn't take much more for her to spill the beans, to tell us what was really bothering her.

"Are you jealous because of the relationship Moxie is in? The love and trust we share, but also the freedom. The freedom that we chose to be together, not forced by your upbringing into a marriage because of a pregnancy. When we get married, it will be because we want to spend the rest of our lives together. Can you say that about your marriage? Can you honestly say that the 'till death do us part' was said with all your heart? Or did you do it, because everyone expected you to follow the rules of the Burg? I'm sure that you love your daughters, but do you really think a forced marriage is the way to true happiness? You aren't happy, are you? You're trying to deny it, but you aren't happy. Not with yourself, not with the life you live."

Val was sitting in her chair, her lunch forgotten, and crying. Huge sobs wrecked her body, tears streaming down her cheeks as she tried to hold it all in. Apparently, Ranger had found her weak spot. Mom had told me that they seemed to have problems, but she never talked about it.

"I know he loves me and he loves the girls, but what about me? I never get to go out. I have to stay at home most of the time. I can't just go out and have fun." She was sobbing, clutching a handkerchief in her hands to cover her eyes, but it was useless.

"I don't know what's wrong with me. I used to be happy with my life, but now? I don't know what happened, when it changed, but I don't like the way my life's going anymore. There's no excitement for me, every day is like the day before and the day before that."

Ranger made a small nod, indicating for the rest of the team to leave us alone with her. They left and Ranger gave Val some time to pull herself together, before he started talking again, his voice a lot softer now. "I understand this, but why don't you go looking for a job that gives you fulfillment? Why do you pester Stephanie and Mary Alice?" He looked at her.

"I don't know. But I think it's because it's what Mom always did. She was scolding Steph to be more like me, but I, I want to be more like her. I don't want to get as extreme a job like bounty hunter, but I want the excitement. Even Grandma has more excitement than I have." She looked up as if trying to see if he understood what she was trying to tell him.

"I was once happy with the life I lead. I was content to be a wife and mother for Steve and my daughters, but somewhere between my divorce and the marriage with Albert I lost something of myself."

I knew what she meant. It was like I had felt after I found Dickie and Joyce on my dining room table. Betrayal, the crumbling of all your hopes, the fear that you'll never find happiness again. What surprised me was that she'd always seemed to be so happy with Albert. The life she was living now was what she had everything she had dreamed of growing up. Why this change now, I was asking myself.

"I always thought you were happy, Val. Content to stay at home."

"I was. As long as Steph was with Joe I was fine, they had problems as well, so I thought it was normal to have a little at home. But when the two of you got together, even before you became a couple, you set off enough electricity to light up whole cities, there were sparks flying between the two of you. And that's missing with Albert. I love him, but it's not as exciting as what you have."

She looked up and I could tell that she was close to tears again, her eyes still swollen from the last round.

"Do you have an idea what could help you?" I asked. I wanted to help, but I had no idea how.

"I don't know. I guess I should get a job, but what do I do with Lisa while I work? And what kind of job should I get?"

"I'm sure Mom wouldn't mind watching Lisa for a couple of hours a day. And you don't need to get a full time job. Just a few hours a day to get you out of the house, to give you the opportunity to meet new people."

She looked thoughtful, but nodded at me. So far so good. Now for the hard part.

"What kind of job do you have in mind?" I looked over at Ranger, daring him to say something about working for RangeMan. Then I remembered that I was the one doing the hiring. Sure, if he said she was to be hired she would be hired, but he would never go over my opinion on this one.

"I don't know. I don't even know what I'm good at."

That was when inspiration struck me. It was like a light bulb was going on in my head, so Ranger noticed it. He looked over at me, raising one of his perfect eyebrows in question. "Val, you're really good with cooking and baking. Why don't you do something like that? You could offer to bake and decorate cakes for people like me who shouldn't be left near an oven."

Her face lit up, only to look doubtful again. "Do you really think I could pull it off? And what about the decorating? I'm not that good with it."

"I'm sure that they have classes at the community college for this. And I would be happy to eat your first creations until you're comfortable with selling them."

Ranger chuckled at my admission. He knew that I rarely ate sugary goods these days.

"And you would actually help me?" Val sounded surprised as she bounced out of her chair to come to me and hugged me. Hard.

"I'm so sorry I was so mean to you." I could feel her tears wetting my hair, but I kept silent, knowing that that was the approach that would get her to talk. "I was unfair, and I apologize for that. I don't know why I did it." Val started sobbing again and I had no idea how to calm her down.

I threw a helpless glance at Ranger over her head, but he just shrugged his shoulders. Damn. No help from him. I patted her awkwardly on her back, trying to sooth her, but she was having none of it.

After several long minutes she finally calmed down and she could talk again. "I'd like to go home now. I'm sorry for what I said about your job. I believe now that it's hard work, and not like I made myself believe. I'm truly sorry for this." Her apology surprised me, but I let it go.

Ranger jumped in to the rescue. "Why don't we have Woody drive you home. Would you like to take a shower and change back into your clothes before you leave?"

She nodded. I took that as my cue to get up, intending to show her to the locker room. She followed my lead, but before we were out of the room she turned to Ranger.

"I apologize for behaving so badly. I'm truly sorry for the problems I've caused you and your men, and for the disrespect I showed towards all of you. I'm sorry for interrupting the party on Saturday the way I did, for disrespecting Steph. I know that I treated Steph and my daughter unfairly, I don't even know why I did it in the first place. I'm so sorry and I have no idea how to make amends for this. I hope that you can forgive me for it."

"Don't worry about it, Val. Just make sure you supply our parties with your cake."

Val nodded and turned around, finally following me to the locker room.

While she showered and got dressed I called Woody, telling him to drive her home. I didn't have the nerve to do it myself. Woody came and when Val was ready, he escorted her out.

One problem solved. I went back to the break room, but Ranger was nowhere to be seen, so I made a beeline for his office, hoping to catch him there.

I struck gold, not only was Ranger sitting behind his desk, but the rest of the core team was assembled as well, talking about the morning.

"You mean, she actually apologized for her behavior? For the shit she put her daughter through?" Tank sounded aghast, having trouble believing what he had heard.

"I'm telling you. She broke out in tears and apologized." That was when Ranger noticed me, standing in the doorway. He waved me over and I took my seat on his lap. "How's she doing?"

"She seemed okay when she came out of the shower. We work her pretty hard these past few days, but she'll get over it. Woody's driving her home as we speak."

The guys nodded. The morning had been difficult, for all of us. RangeMan was very supportive of its employees, and they didn't like it when one of theirs was brought down. Somewhere along the line, MA had become a member of the company as well, receiving the same support and help they had always provided for me.

"What's on the agenda for the rest of the day?" I looked around, being rewarded with four curious faces. I didn't have to look around to see what Ranger's reaction was. He would wait until I had said everything and then offer his opinion.

"Nothing planned for the rest of the day. There's a redecoration job scheduled for later this week, but that's about it. Why are you asking?"

Okay, Ranger seemed to be curious as well.

"We haven't had any real downtime since we came back. What about a day at the beach? We could take blankets and ask Ella to prepare a picnic for us." I paused a moment, trying to get a vibe about their opinion. "And we could make s'mores." I looked hopeful at Lester, my partner in chocolate sins.

"I'm game." Thanks Les.

Tank wasn't that easily convinced. "What about security? It's still early, but I'm not that comfortable sitting at the beach with no one there to watch my back."

"Smith is away on vacation. We could go to his private beach. We provide the security for him, so the guys in the control room would be watching our backs."

I thought that this idea was great, looking around I saw that everyone other than Tank was convinced.

"You got a date with Lula tonight?"

He looked surprised, but then nodded.

"Damn."

"That's what I'm thinking. I promised her to take her out tonight. We haven't spent much time together since we came back."

I could understand him. I had missed Ranger horribly while I had been away. "You want to come, or go to Lula?" I figured I would ask him, let him make the decision.

"I would love to go, but I've got no idea how to tell Lula without her getting too mad. She'll cut me off if I piss her off." That brought him a round of chuckles.

"Okay, big guy. I'll talk to her. You come with us tonight, and tomorrow you go over, have her pack an overnight bag and kidnap her for a few days. Take her to Atlantic City or something. We'll cover for you."

Tank was beaming at me like I had made his day, well I probably had, but we benefited from it as well. He got up and came over to give me a hug.

"Thanks Bomber, you're the best." It was actually embarrassing to see him so grateful and emotional.

"You're welcome."

He patted my back and went to sit down again. I looked at Lester and Bobby. "Anyone else with a girlfriend who is getting a little antsy?" I was grinning, knowing that both of them didn't have a steady relationship.

"Nope, let's get this party started. But you might want to introduce us to some of your single friends sometime." Lester grinned mischievously at me and I knew what he was thinking. He needed to get laid. Badly.

"Not tonight. Could you guys organize blankets and all the heavy stuff? I'll talk to Ella and we'll meet in the garage at 1600 hours. We'll take one of the SUV's. SOLDIERS MOVE!" I figured they were big enough to hold all of us.

They all stood at attention before leaving the office.

I could feel Ranger chuckle behind me. "Babe."

"What? We all deserve a day out of the office and Lula deserves some quality time with Tank as well. We've barely been out of the building since we got back. You know that."

"That's not what I'm saying. Before you came to us we would go on a mission, we would return and it was back to business as usual. You made us one big family, a family where the members care for each other."

I turned around in his lap to capture his lips with mine. "I love you."

"I love you, too. But why only one car?"

"If I told you I would have to kill you. Wait to find out." I grinned at him. Even before I asked I had had a plan in mind, now I had to get it all started. "Why don't you go and help the guys. I'll meet you at the car." With another kiss I got up to visit Ella.

I made my way up to the sixth floor, knowing I would find Ella there, doing the laundry.

I found her in the laundry room, apparently happy to see me.

"Hello Dear, how can I help you?"

"Could you prepare a picnic for the core team? We're driving out to the coast to get some downtime in."

"Sure. What did you have in mind? Sandwiches? Cake? Hot dogs? Salads?"

"I'll trust you to prepare something absolutely wonderful and delicious for us."

She smiled at me. "Sure. Do you need anything else?"

I outlined my plan and she agreed to take care of it. I went up into the apartment to pack what was needed. Ranger wouldn't know what to pack, as he didn't know my plan yet.

When I was finished I went back down to Ella to find that she had everything ready for me.

She helped me carry it down after I made a quick stop in the control room. We loaded everything in he car with the guys standing around, watching us.

"Ready to go?" I asked them.

"Let's get this party started. Who's gonna get shotgun?" Lester wanted to know.

"Have fun. See you tomorrow." Ella smiled at me. She and Ram were the only ones who knew about my plan, although Ranger seemed to suspect something.

"I don't care who's gonna ride shotgun." I grabbed Ranger and pulled him into the back of the car.

"What's going on, Babe? That's way too much stuff for just an evening at the beach."

I smiled mischievously at him and kissed him within an inch of his life. "You'll have to wait a little to find out, but you won't regret it."


	39. Chapter 38

_Standard disclaimer applies._

_Thank you to everyone who reviewed, I appreciate it. Thank you, Mud, for being my Beta, and Annie, for being my inspiration._

**Chapter 38**

The drive to the coast was rather uneventful. 

I remembered that I had promised Tank to take care of Lula so I gave her a call. I explained what was going on and she wasn't happy. She wanted to spend time with him, which was understandable. When I told her that Tank would make it up to her, she calmed down a little. She tried to coax me into telling her, but I resisted, only telling her that she'd enjoy it. The guys were chuckling while I talked to her, but none of them wanted to take her on.

After the call I had snuggled up to Ranger. He was running his fingers through my hair, massaging my scalp in a soothing, but at the same time arousing motion.

"What are you up to, Babe?" He was whispering in my ear, his breath tickling the shell of my ear.

"Patience, you'll see soon enough." That was apparently enough for him, as we settled down in silence, content with being near each other, sharing caresses and kisses. The guys were bantering back and forth, as much as big tough ex-army guys banter, but it was more than usual.

The drove over took about an hour and a half and I didn't remember much about what the guys talked about. And I didn't care.

The part of beach we had stopped at was secluded. Well sure it was a private beach, but it was between cliffs, so you could only oversee it from the huge villa behind us. It was a beautiful villa, but way too big for my taste.

The beach was beautiful, the sand soft and without rocks, the waves crashing softly against the shore. I felt at peace, calm and content. I had always loved to come to the beach to relax, to regroup, and this time would be no different. Except now I wouldn't be alone

The guys were busy setting everything up, Ranger was getting everything out of the car. I stood beside him, watching that he left the things Ella prepared for us inside.

His gaze fell onto the sleeping bags I had packed and he looked up, catching my eye.

"Part of you surprise?" His voice was soft and sultry, his pupils slightly dilated.

"Yup, but there's more."

"What about the guys? They staying as well?"

I knew where he was going, but for once I had planned ahead. "Nope, either Ram or Hal is going to pick them up when we call them. It's only gonna be the both of us."

He drew me into his arms and kissed me, with love and adoration, and I put everything I had into the kiss as well. We kissed for several long delicious minutes, forgetting everything else around us. We quit when we had to come up for air. That was when I heard the cheering. Stupid men.

I was looking forward to our evening out, away from all the pressure at RangeMan, away from all the rules. That night, we could be who we really were.

I didn't know who it was, but one of them got a fire going and they had the blankets around it. I sorted out which baskets were to be left in the car for later and what was going to be used for all of us. Ella had packed us a lot of beer, so I had them help carry it.

Finally we settled down around the fire, sitting Indian style. It was funny as hell to see Tank sitting like this and I couldn't contain my giggles.

"What are you laughing about, Bombshell?" Tank wanted to know.

"Have you ever sat in front of a mirror like this?"

He looked a little irritated and shook his head.

"Tank, maybe you should do it sometime? Do you practice yoga in your free time?" I was full out laughing now, the look at his face, combined with how he sat was too much for me. And the others were cracking up as well.

"Okay, I give. I know it looks funny, but it's comfy. Why don't you laugh about the others? They look just as funny." He took it all in good humor, laughing along with us.

"Aww, poor Tank. Because the others aren't big enough to be called Tank. When you're honest, you can only believe it because you saw it. When I go into the office tomorrow and tell them that you guys sat Indian style nobody's going to believe me."

"True. Now give me a beer."

While we had been laughing Ranger had dragged me closer to him without me even noticing, but it was the place I wanted to be anyway, so I wasn't complaining.

"Uh, who's gonna drive home tonight?" Lil wanted to know. Good idea to ask before anyone got beer, but totally unnecessary.

"Nobody, I arranged for pick up service, so we could all enjoy the evening."

That got me a round of cheers and I passed the beer around. Even Ranger took one, telling me at the same time that I would only get two, because he had plans for me.

The evening was great. We talked a little, nursing our beers, making s'mores and grilling hot dogs over the open fire. At some point we fell quiet. All you could hear were the waves gently lapping against the shore and the crackling of the fire. I had moved from beside Ranger onto his lap, my back to his front and he was holding me to him with his arms around my waist.

We were watching the sunset together, cuddled up to each other, and it reminded me of Fariba's rescue. The mission held mostly positive memories for me. Sure, there had been parts that were pretty ugly, but I'd seen worse before. I didn't want to say that it was nice, but it wasn't as horrible as it could have been. I had enjoyed the closeness we developed while gathering Intel, the friendship and trust that had developed between the six of us. And I had won a partner, a partner whom I trusted to watch my back when we were working, to help me and to support me. And I would do the same for him. I would do it for all of them. This feeling had been there before we went overseas, but the mission had intensified it. And I was grateful for the safety net they provided for me.

Just thinking about what they did to the girls had me shivering and I had to fight the urge to throw up. I desperately had wanted to help, had wanted to stop them, but I didn't know how. And I didn't like the method to eliminate the terrorist group. I didn't even like the fact that we had to eliminate them, but we were told to do so and didn't have much choice. I agreed that we had to eliminate the threat that came from this group. Thinking back I was relieved that we didn't have to take them down one on one, because that would have been too much for me.

Ranger had a blanket thrown over us, engulfing me in the heat his body provided, separated from the outside by a blanket, warding off the chill from bot the cool air as well as these memories. And he was driving me nuts underneath it. His fingers were drawing circles on my stomach, his breath was tickling my ear, whispering in my ear what he wanted to do with me later. I needed to do something to distract me or I would jump Ranger, not even caring about the audience.

The guys were staring into the fire, thinking about whatever, they seemed to be at peace. I felt content to be there as well, the peace of this place helping me, calming me down, easing the tension.

"Guys, tell me about the most embarrassing thing you've ever done." Ranger was chuckling behind me, knowing my ulterior motives, but he couldn't deter me. I just didn't do well with audiences.

"You really want to know?" Bobby asked me. I figured the booze had loosened them up a little and they would talk more freely.

"Sure, or I wouldn't have asked." I grinned at him, although he probably couldn't see my smile as it was already pretty dark.

"Bobby, you've got to start." I said, excited to hear about some of their mishaps. And I was sure the Intel I was about to gather would provide fantastic black mail material.

Bobby was groaning while the others were laughing, obviously it was good.

"Come on, spill it. It can't be that bad. And you've gotten the live show on all my mishaps so don't be a wimp."

The others apparently knew what was coming as they were all silent and I could feel Ranger chuckling behind me. "But remember you asked for it. We had just made it into the Rangers and were on leave. We went into a nearby bar to pick up some company."

I felt Ranger tighten his arms around me. I knew that he was uncomfortable about some things he had done in the past, but I didn't care. It had made him the man he now was, the man I loved, so I leaned back a little.

"It's okay, I love you anyways." That seemed to relax him and Bobby continued his story.

"We were all pretty successful, Lester even got two hot girls to go home with. Anyways, I walked up to that really hot girl. She was about as high as you, stunning blue eyes and had long blonde hair. I still remember the short black skirt ad the turquoise halter-top she was wearing. She was really beautiful and I bought her a drink. I had a good head start so after some talking I asked her to dance, she said yes and we danced and drank some more. I hadn't been feeling well that evening and I was kinda happy to get out of the bar when she asked me to walk her out to her car. I was happy to do so, hoping she would me take home with her."

I felt Ranger vibrate with contained laughter, guess now came the embarrassing part.

"We walked out of her car and I had my hand at her lower back. When we came to her car I drew her into me, to kiss her. That's when I vomited all over her. It was so embarrassing, especially as everyone walked out behind us. Needless to say I didn't get the girl that night and she never looked at me again."

"What was wrong? Did she have that bad breath." 

"Actually, I had a case of food poisoning."

His story had me laughing and if Ranger hadn't been upholding me, I would have been rolling around. Breathing was hard enough as it was. Between fits of giggles I got out what I wanted Bobby to hear. "I'm sorry, but that's too funny." And I started into a new round of giggles.

When I finally calmed down, I asked the next one. "Lester how did you embarrass yourself?" 

"I would love to tell you, Bombshell, but our chauffeur service awaits."

"Huh?"

"I called them about an hour and a half ago. We need to get out of bed fairly early tomorrow." 

I turned around and saw the second SUV parked beside the one we came in.

We all got up to gather our stuff, but Ranger and I let ours be and helped the guys. Tank saw it and pulled me aside. 

"What's going on, Bombshell?" 

"Only the four of you are going back. Ranger and I are going to spend the night here at the beach."

"Isn't that going to be a little cool? It's not that warm at night yet."

"Don't worry, Tank. We'll keep each other warm." I grinned at him, the moonlight barely illuminating my face so he could see me. I wanted a night alone with Ranger, without having to be afraid of a ringing phone or any other interruption that would cause that one or both of us had to go. I was getting a night without interruptions with Ranger, just like he would be getting uninterrupted time with Lula. He just had to wait a little longer. But he was way more patient than I was anyways.

"Okay, as long as you guys don't get sick." He thought for a second, the alcohol in his system slowing him down a little. "So that's what all the extra baskets Ella had were about. Breakfast at the beach while watching the sunrise, huh? Never thought you were such a romantic."

I just nodded and he engulfed me in a hug before walking over to help cleaning up.

I followed him to help as best as I could, but they were nearly finished. I couldn't wait for them to finally leave, as Ranger had worked me into a state, and he knew what he was doing. He was driving me slowly crazy. He knew all my buttons he had to push.

Eventually the guys left, and the night fell silent around us, only the ocean and the fire could be heard. I walked over to the car to get the sleeping bags and all the other stuff we would need and Ranger met me there. He pulled me to him and kissed me. A kiss that spoke of promises of what was to come that night, but also for as long as we would live. When we drew back to get some oxygen I was breathing hard and my state was worse than before.

"Help with the bags so we can get settled in for the night." I gave him a last peck on the lips and then set out with the task at hand.

"You seriously intend to sleep tonight?" He looked incredulously, the moonlight accenting his masculine features.

"Nope, but we'll be way more comfortable in the sleeping bags. I don't like to get sand in all the important places."

That got me the wolf grin and I knew I had him.

"I just hope you got that bags that can be zipped together, or you'll have to deal with the sand."

"Ella was my ally, she made sure of it." I grinned up at him. I had made damn sure that the sleeping bags fit together. I had even endured some teasing about it when Ella had seen what I was checking.

That made him grin and finally we got it all arranged. The basket with breakfast was still in the car, as well as a change of clothes for the both of us. Another bag with sweatshirts and drawstring pants to fight off the chill was beside the sleeping bags, which were placed near the fire. Near enough to soak up some warmth, but far enough away that we didn't risk getting burned.

After a lot of laughing and teasing we finally slid into the sleeping bags, roomy enough to engage in some fun. He had convinced me to forgo the clothing for the moment.

We settled down on our sides, my back to his front and my head pillowed on his muscular arm. He had rolled his sweatshirt to be more comfortable. The arm I was lying on was cupping one of my breasts, the other one was rubbing circles on my stomach again. His breathing was even and I relaxed into him, trying to get as much contact as possible.

"Thank you for tonight. We all needed to kick back and relax a little."

"You're welcome. I needed it badly, so I thought it wouldn't hurt to get the rest of the team a little downtime as well. They seemed to enjoy themselves." I was wiggling my butt in his groin, eliciting a groan from him.

"They enjoyed it, I'm sure. But I'm also sure that wasn't the only thing you had in mind for tonight. So tell me, what did you plan or at least what do you fantasize?" The circles he made on my stomach were getting larger, brushing against the underside of my breasts and over my hips. The hand on my breast started drawing little circles around my nipple, but not touching it. "Tell me, don't be shy." He added kisses along my neck into the mix and I was a goner. He knew I couldn't resist him.

"I always dreamed of making love at the beach while watching the sun rise." I had trouble to get it all out in one go, his ministrations making it harder for me to control my breathing.

"What else? That can't be everything." He knew me too well.

"And...and making love with the stars above us, watching them."

"You know what that means?" His voice was whisper soft, gentle, and his breath was tickling my ear.

"Yeah. And I trust you."

We spent the night exactly like I had always dreamed of, making sweet, tender love. It was one of the best nights of my life, the emotions and energy between us nearly overwhelming. And it was perfect.

We fell asleep after sunrise, having spent all the energy we had. I woke a few short hours later to the feeling of someone watching me. When I finally got my eyes to cooperate Ranger was looming over me, watching me intently.

"Morning, Babe."

"Hmm, morning." My voice was still rough with sleep, but I was already smiling. My smile probably matching the one Ranger wore.

He leaned over to press a soft kiss to my lips. "So, was it everything you dreamed about?"

"Everything I dreamed about and more. It was the best night ever."

We lay there quite some time, cuddled up to each other, until my stomach growled.

"Ready for some breakfast?"

"Huh?"

"Ella packed us some." He chuckled and got up to fetch the basket. I got the bags and we cleaned up a little before having breakfast.

After a delicious breakfast we packed all the bags and baskets and everything that was still lying around into the SUV and drove back into Trenton. 

We made the drive in silence, holding hands. I wanted to keep the peaceful mood as long as possible knowing that once we returned it would be back to the everyday operations.

The End... for now

_A big Thank you to everyone who supported me while writing this story. I'm thankful for every review I received, every little bit of advice you gave me. Without you I couldn't have done it._


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